She says that it does not mean that you cannot call White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders a liar because she is. And that was even before yesterday’s revelation about her lies on behalf of Donald Trump about the payments made to Stephanie Clifford.
I know that ‘listicles’ (articles that are lists of things, often ranked in order of preference) are often purely clickbait. They consist of preferences of the writers of the article and have no deeper meaning. However, I am a sucker for lists of books and films and so often follow up the links just to see how my tastes compare with that of the author. This list consists of 21 books that the editors of GQ magazine think are highly over-rated and for each book they provide lesser-known alternatives in the same genre that they think would be time better spent reading.
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There have been a huge number of books devoted to Adolf Hitler and the rise of the Nazis, trying to understand what drove his thinking and how he was able to win the allegiance of the nation in his monstrous plans and almost succeed. In the April 30, 2018 issue of The New Yorker Alex Ross reviews a series of books and focuses on the American sources of inspiration that Hitler drew upon to justify his policies and to believe that the world would overlook his actions. In particular he felt that American racism, with its extermination of Native Americans, subjugation of the black population, and exclusion of non-white immigrants, was pursuing the same policies of trying to create racial purity that he sought to implement. Furthermore, he was impressed with American insouciance, the ability to practice utterly racist policies while acting like it was a deeply religious nation and a beacon of freedom and equality. He felt that he too could ride out any opprobrium by simply asserting that what he was doing was actually virtuous.
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Cartoonist Matt Bors wonders what the talk show panelists in North Korea are saying about the proposed meeting of their country’s leader with Donald Trump.
When the devices called Fitbits first came out, they were all over the place. One of them was handed to me and I wore one over a few days to see how much I walked on average. It turns out that my daily walk numbers were nowhere close to what was expected (10,000 steps?) and so I had two options: walk more or give up monitoring my number. I chose the latter and now don’t even know where my Fitbit is. My attitude to exercise is close to that of Pig in Pearls Before Swine.
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Michelle Wolf’s scathing attack on the entire class of people in the political and media world at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner that showcases the incestuous relationships among them continues to produce ripple effects, with some speculating as to whether her performance spells the merciful end of this event. If it does, Wolf deserves our sincere gratitude.
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Younger generations may not have heard of Glenda Jackson, the fine British actress of stage and film who won two Academy Awards for best actress (Women in Love (1970) and A Touch of Class (1973)). She was always a fiery socialist and her outrage at what Margaret Thatcher was doing led her to give up her acting career and enter parliament as a Labour MP, serving from 1993 to 2015. After she left, she went back to the stage and this year, at the age of 81, she has been nominated for a Tony award for her role in Edward Albee’s play Three Tall Women.
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In a recent post, I said that unlike in the case of most groups that share a generalized grievance, in the case of the so-called incels (‘involuntary celibates’), I just could not see what an external solution to their complaint might look like. Via PZ Myers though, I came across this post where the problem is particularized and a solution is suggested.
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A screening of the latest comic-book based superhero film (this seems to be an inexhaustible well from which film makers can draw) ended somewhat spectacularly at a theater in California.
Just after 10 p.m., police started receiving several calls about a man who started “preaching and making odd statements about God,” said Carl Baker, the spokesman for the Police Department. “People panicked and ran out of the theater.”
The man was apparently waving his arms in the air and jumped while shouting.
“As soon as the movie was over, this guy starts yelling, preaching and talking about repenting from our sins,” said Susie Arias of Highland, who was at the theater at 27481 San Bernardino Ave.
“At first, I thought it was a joke and some people even started yelling back at him, but then when he starts taking about guaranteeing our right to heaven and paying for our sins today, I think that’s when mass hysteria hit and some people started running out,” she said.
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The debacle over Donald Trump’s nomination of White House physician Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson to become head of the Veteran’s Administration has shed some light on this obscure position. During the period after his nomination, various allegations emerged that said that Jackson was not only lax in the way he ran the office but also frequently drank on the job and created a hostile work environment. After withdrawing his name from consideration for the VA position, Jackson had said that he would revert to his former position but now it appears that he will not do that either, and another navy doctor Sean Conley has taken over.
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