Doomsday Clock

Today’s post? COMIC BOOKS!!!

Yes, I know the State of the Union address was last night but I really don’t want to talk about Li’l Donnie at all*

*I am writing this before the State of the Union address takes place. If Li’l Donnie goes egregiously off script, I may need to reconsider. 

But on to important things!

COMIC BOOKS!!!

Doomsday Clock

Wow! This has been an intense read. I admit I was in the camp that Watchmen was sacrosanct and needed no follow up. But if you’re going to do it and drag those characters into the main DC universe,  Doomsday Clock works. Geoff Johns is doing some of his best writing here, weaving a narrative of nuance and intricacy. It may not be as tight as Alan Moore’s original work but Johns is clearly inspired by Moore. Like Moore’s pirate comic within a comic Tales of the Black Freighter, Johns is using a stoy with in a story, scenes of a film featuring Nathaniel Dusk who appeared in a pair of mini-series back in the 1980s by Don McGregor and Gene Colan. In an echo of Watchmen’s nuclear brinkmanship, the nations of Earth in the main DC Universe are on edge due to something called the Superman Theory. It posits that since Superman’s arrival, the plethora of super powered beings that emerged after that are p[art of a US government plot since so many of them are American. The other nations of the world are in an arms race to catch up. Just as Moore’s Watchmen was deeply influenced by the politics of the time he wrote it, Johns is refracting his story through the prism of current politics.  

Johns does introduce two new characters in the Watchmen universe, villains Mime and Marionette. As the rest of Watchmen were based on Charlton characters, it appears this pair is based on Punch & Jewelee, a married villain couple who caused trouble for Capt. Atom in the Charlton line. Mime and Marionette are messed, by turns goofy psychopaths and murderous sociopaths. Johns is clearly having fun writing these two.

Rorshach is back. OK, not Walter Kovacs but a black man named Reggie who channels the first Rorshach’s single minded ness but lacking his absolute certitude. I’m still not sure what to make of the ending to issue #3 where Batman tricks Rorshach into a cell at Arkham Asylum and leaves him there. 

I’m going to have to wait to get answers. The book is going on bi-monthly schedule. Which is fine by me. Better to just say that a book is bi-monthly than to insist it’s monthly and keep missing deadlines. And artist Gary Franks probably needs the time.  He’s providing some outstanding visuals with an incredible amount of detail .  

One more thing about Doomsday Clock. It fills up 32 pages with story and art as well as back up text features that supplement the story, much the same way the original Watchmen did with book excerpts, news articles and more. 

So if you're keeping your distance because the word of Alan Moore is not to be refuted and Watchmen is sacred text, that's cool. I dig where you're coming from. 

But if DC dragging Watchmen into their DC multiverse seems like a dick move, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are still doing amazing work. 

Gut Check

Monday afternoon, I had to leave work a bit early as I was feeling a bit sick to my stomach. What with the flu going around AND my annual propensity for a medical crisis in January, I feared the worst. 

As I write this, I'm feeling a bit better. I think my queasiness owed more to not eating properly for several days.  

I had my gall bladder removed about 10 years ago. I have to be careful that I avoid excessive greasiness in my food. 

Recently, I have NOT been careful that I avoid excessive greasiness in my food. Between various fried chicken based foods (as well as actual fried chicken) plus pizza and I realized with alarm, "Oh my God! When did I last eat a vegetable? Jesus, eat a piece a fruit, already!"

It's easy to fall into a trap of not eating properly. When I'm tired, there are so many quick options that are breaded and somehow associated with cheese.  

So I'm posting this to help me remind me I need to do better. 

And remember to eat a vegetable, for crying out loud.   

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

My wife Andrea and I finally cleared off a movie we’ve had on DVR since October, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies because Andrea will watch almost anything with Matt Smith in it, even a movie with zombies. 

The movie is adapted from a book which takes Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and adds zombies. The Bennett sisters are trained warrior in the fight against the zombies that ravage the English countryside. But even with the ever present threat of zombies, the niceties and rituals of upper class English society must continue to be observed with tea parties and balls as well as the machinations of upstanding young men and women of exceptional breeding and class seeking arrangements of marriage. 

It’s all very proper and civilized but with moments of zombies being hacked into bloody pieces.  Matt Smith is actually in this movie, unlike all the hoo-ha about Matt being in Terminator Genesys and he's in it for maybe 1 minute 35 seconds. Here, Matt is Parson Collins, an overbearing twit who has come to seek the hand of a Bennet sister in matrimony. Matt is very funny in the role of a man eager to assert an elevated station in society with a lot of name dropping and unearned confidence. After being rejected by his first two choices, Collins finally gets a Bennet sister to agree to marry him. I guess compared to a world overrun by zombies, marriage to Parson Collins isn't all trhat bad. 


Lily James (who by the way is Matt Smith’s girlfriend) is Elizabeth Bennet who has little patience for the rituals of upper class English society and is much more comfortable with a book or fighting zombies.  Sam Riley is Fitzwilliam Darcy with a persistent glower worthy of Batman or Wolverine.  Like Elizabeth, he too has little regard for the desires of society; he is more inclined to focus on his activities as a skilled zombie-killer.


With so much in common. Elizabeth and Darcy would seem to be suited for one another but Darcy is a bit too uptight for Elizabeth’s tastes. Then Liz obtains information that further diminishes any appeal Darcy may have had for her. Liz is working with less than the full story but it all gets sorted out by the end. 

 
Basically Pride and Prejudice and Zombies  is predicated upon a very simple, single premise: Pride and Prejudice but with ZOMBIES!!!

It is an absurd concept that shouldn’t really work as well as it does.  It's not a great movie but it is an entertaining diversion with some quality BBC acting and some really scary thrills with the zombie parts. 

If you came for the Pride and Prejudice, you also get a pretty good zombie movie. If you came for the zombies, you get exposure to one of the classics of English literature.

Yes, the zombies are gruesome but for the most part, it’s not overbearing. We see just enough of the zombies to sufficiently horrify us and remind us of the extreme fragility of the niceties and rituals of upper class English society. 

I Resolve To Watch More Television.

You know the joke around the start of the year with New Year's resolutions. I resolve to eat more doughnuts. I resolve sit on my ass more. I resolve to give less of a shit about other people. 

Or my favorite... I resolve to watch more television.   

This year, I appear to be taking this one seriously.  With but a few days in January to go, here's what I've watched so far for 2018.  

Season 1 of The Good Place. 
Wow, this is a fun and whacked out show. Kristen Bell is Eleanor, a young woman recently deceased and now in an afterlife that she may not be qualified for. Selfish and hedonistic to a fault while she was alive, she finds herself by mistake in an after life idyll for people better than she was. Not wanting the error to get discovered and be condemned to The Bad Place, Eleanor struggles with concepts of ethics and morality that she did not consider in life. 

But the show is more that just Eleanor's whacky attempts to show she is worthy of heaven after the fact.  There's a complex narrative at work here, almost like Lost... but better. And funny... on purpose.  

Kristen Bell is perfect as Eleanor, developing from selfish narcissism and a growing emotional empathy.  And Ted Danson as the afterlife architect Michael is a bizarre collection of tics and quirks with a dark undercurrent.   

Season 2 is underway over on NBC. I need to catch up. 

Season 1 of Episodes
I actually caught most of season 2 on Showtime last summer and part of season 5 in the fall. I saw Episodes was now on Netflix and decided this was a goo chance to catch up from the beginning. 


Context is everything. When I first saw British TV writers Sean and Beverly Lincoln last summer, they were miserable, frustrated people. Seeing the series from the beginning, I now understand how they got that way. Sean and Beverly have just won yet another BAFTA for their hit British sitcom Liman's Boys, about an eccentric aged headmaster of  prestigious boys school. Sean and Beverly are approached by Merk, an American TV network executive who just loves Sean and Beverly and wants to bring them and their TV show to American television. 


For all his gushing enthusiasm, we later learn Merk has never even seen Liman's Boys; all he knows is Sean & Beverly have won a shit ton of BAFTAs for it. 


Immediately, Sean and Beverly Lincoln's American dreams are turned to shit.  The eccentric aged headmaster of  a prestigious boys school becomes a high school hockey coach played by Matt Leblanc. And the show is now called PUCKS!  


Beverly is most unhappy with this predicament but Sean seems to have settled in a bit, even becoming best buds with Matt LeBlanc who Beverly absolutely abhors. 


I've started into season 2 which I had seen before but its fun to watch it again with the full context of what happened in season 1.


The highlight of Episodes is Matt LeBlanc who stars as Matt LeBlanc, a fast living womanizing buffoon who really doesn't want to hurt anybody but manages to blunder into hurting them anyway.


Season 1 of Arrested Development
This is a re-watch. I've seen seasons 1 through 3 before but now the season 4 episodes made for Netflix. I'm amazed by how little I remember; maybe THAT's what my stroke last year took away from me,  my memories of Arrested Development?




Doctor: Mr. Long, you've had a stroke.
ME: Nooooooooooo!!!!
Doctor: Settle down. You're fine, your motor and cognitive functions are in good shape.
ME: OK, that's good.
Doctor: The only side effect I can see is you have lost your memory of certain plot details from Arrested Development. 
ME: Nooooooooooo!!!!
Doctor: I prescribe Netflix and suggest you just watch he damn thing again. 
ME: OK, whatever. 
Ron Howard as Narrator: This never happened.

Randie: Dad, can you help me with this math problem?
ME: Sorry, honey. Busy watching Arrested Development.
Randie: Again?!
ME: Doctor's orders! I have to in order to live!
Ron Howard as Narrator: David, of course, was lying.

On this re-watch, I've found Buster to be less annoying for some reason while I have absolutely no patience for Gobs' shenanigans on screen. The funniest thing about the show is the narration by Ron Howard.



Ron Howard as Narrator: David was sucking up to the narrator again.  It wouldn't do him any good.  


In addition, I finished off Season 2 of The Crown. I've been introducing my daughter to the charms of Star Trek the Original Series. If I stumble on batch of Big Bang Theory episodes on TBS, there goes about 2 hours of my day. I also enjoy VChuck Lorre's other CBS show, Mom; Allison Janney is a goddess. Hell, I even been watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy more often; boy, I'm getting old! 


So pull out the list of 2018 New Year's Resolutions:


* I resolve to watch more television.


And check that one off!


I am a SUCCESS!!

A Very Simple Admonition

As I’ve noted several times on this blog, I wake up every day pissed off that Donald Trump is the president and also pissed off at people who continue to support this shit for brain rat-bastard even after a year of continual evidence of his lack of fitness for this job.

 

I don’t need a lot of help to get riled up over this most unfortunate status of things but a few days ago, Tony Perkins, head of the conservative Christian nonprofit Family Research Council, added an extra level of steam to my normal state of rage.

Perkins said Trump gets “a mulligan” or “do-over” over allegations that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet over their reported affair.

 

Basically, the hard right so-called evangelical conservatives are OK with whatever fucking shit Li’l Donnie does as long as they are getting something out of it. 

 

I naturally wanted to vent my frustration in a blog post where I use the word “fuck” too much.

 

But I’m going to let Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, have the floor on this topic. 

 

“I have a very simple admonition at this point: Just shut the hell up and don’t ever preach to me about anything ever again. I don’t want to hear it. After telling me how to live my life, who to love, what to believe, what not to believe, what to do and what not to do and now you sit back and the prostitutes don’t matter? The grabbing the you-know-what doesn’t matter? The outright behavior and lies don’t matter? Just shut up.”

 

Thanks, Michael. You said what I wanted to say but without using the word “fuck”. 

Great Krypton! The Red Underwear Is Back!

Big news in the world of comic books: Superman’s red underwear is back!  On the outside!  

Since the roll out of the New 52 back in September 2011, Superman’s costume has been sans the red trunks. It is a look reflected in Superman’s appearance in the DCEU films under Zack Snyder and the version of the Man of Steel we’ve seen on Supergirl. 

I guess the inherent logic of such a move is to have Superman’s outfit look less like a costume and more like a uniform. We’ve heard the jokes about Superman wearing is underwear on the outside of his pants. Removing the red trunks took away an object of derision and ridicule.

It also doesn’t work. 

I mean, I’m not sure but the more modern look seems incomplete. Maybe that’s just old habits talking or nostalgia but Superman looks more like Superman with red trunks. Without them, he looks like just another super hero.  

I don’t know if we’re getting worked up for nothing. The image is for Jim Lee’s cover for Action Comics#1000. Maybe Jim is just going with Supe’s most iconic look for this epic milestone in comic book history. But I’m hoping this is a real and substantive change in Superman’s design.

Speaking of Action Comics#1000, long time Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis will make his DC debut with a 10 page story illustrated by Jim Lee. Now I’m worried that it will be 10 pages of repetitive banter as Clark and Lois debate the merits of adding the red shorts back to Superman’s costume. 

What the Hell? They’re Open

So the Great American Government Shutdown of 2018 is heading for the record books. 

The Democrats tried to leverage the government funding bill to secure protection for young immigrants that were brought to this country illegally but as children. They were protected by DACA until Li’l Donnie rescinded it back in September in a sop to his base and to poke Obama in the eye once again. 

So Senate Democrats agreed on Monday to on to the latest government funding bill with action on DACA deferred.

Did the Democrats lose this one? What the hell happened? 

Republican were intransigent: no immigration reform unless the government is open for business first.  The Dems were never going to get a Dream Act into law, no matter how long the shutdown lasted.   , whether that shutdown was 60 hours or 60 days. And enough Democrats didn’t quite have the appetite for a long fight, either.

The Democrats did have some Republicans in their corner. But when Lindsey Graham and Jeff Flake said they’d vote to keep the government open, Senate Democrats lost that edge which took some wind out of their sails.

While early polling showed people more likely to blame Republicans than Democrats for the shutdown, the constant drum beat of hardline Republicans and Tantrum Trump threatened to erode that support over time. “Look! Democrats are more concerned with illegal immigrants than ordinary citizens hurt by a government shutdown.”

It should be pointed out that the immigrants in question were not illegal under DACA protection but then Li’l Donnie reversed it and there you go.

And Trump was in full on campaign mode, even accusing them the Democrats guilty of any murders committed by illegal immigrants.

Trump was no help, casting aspersions on the character and ethics of Democrats.  In actual negotiations, Trump was a non-entity and that was OK with both Democratic and Republican Senators who really did not want his help. It was his “help” that drove the impasse that led to the government shutdown in the first place. Mostly, he man-child in chief ranted petulantly on Twitter and posed for pictures in the Oval Office to look like he was working. 

So what about DACA? Mitch McConnell pinky swore if the Senate approved to fund the government, then DACA would be taken up again ASAP. Which is all well and good. Who knows? Mitch McConnell may actually keep his word. There’s a lot of Democrats on TV making it very clear that they’ve gone along with funding the government based on Mitch McConnell keeping his word about immigration.

But it may not matter if Mitch McConnell keeps his word. Even if the Senate can work out a DACA compromise, will the House go along with it? The Republicans are even more hardnosed about immigration. See the last effort at immigration reform in 2013-2014 when the work of the Senate got scuttled by hardline conservative Tea Party types in the House.  

At least we know there are some grownups in Washington as the shutdown was resolved with a bipartisan compromise.

We also know, alas, there is still a petulant baby in a man suit in the White House. His rantings on Twitter, his lack of a coherent message, his total incompetence that caused the government shutdown and his complete irrelevance in fixing the mess he helped create serves once again to underscore he is not competent or fit for the office of President. 

So that's a wrap Great American Government Shutdown of 2018. See you for the sequel in what, 2 months?  

You Would Be Nuts To Ignore This....

But today is....

Really!

Remember to be good to one another and take time to appreciate a squirrel.   

Art and Culcha!

Last night, we made our way out of the Fortress of Ineptitude to attend a performance of the Greensboro Symphony in their Masterworks Series which featured guitarist Manuel Barrueco. 

It seemed like a good chance to expose daughter Randie to a top tier classical guitarist as she has recently taken up the guitar. I hope this inspires her to pursue her passion for the guitar and not go, "Oh crap! I'll never play that good."   

Click this link for a performance by Manuel Barrueco of Mozart's Piano Sonata K 283 in G major. Yep, it's a sonata written for piano but Manuel Barrueco brings it wonderfully to life on the guitar.   

What the Hell? They're Closed!

I originally posted this image back on Wednesday, October 2, 2013 during the last government shut down.   

Well, here we go again, another government shutdown.  

• Republicans say they won’t negotiate on immigration until Democrats vote to reopen government. 
• Democrats say they won’t vote to reopen government until Republicans negotiate on immigration. 

Well gosh darn, that's quite an impasse there, dontcha know? So how are these kids working it out?  

• In the House, after Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) delivered a blistering speech blaming Democrats for the shutdown, which he called a “shakedown,” the presiding officer in the House at the time, Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), refused to recognize Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for a response. That breach of decorum ― it’s customary for whoever is in the chair to recognize the minority leader if he or she wants to speak ― led to a shouting match on the House floor, which in turn led to lawmakers having to come to the chamber to, in effect, take attendance.
• In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) blamed Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for a “manufactured crisis.” Schumer slammed McConnell and Republicans for governing via stopgap spending measures, for chronically delaying a compromise on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration program, and for crafting partisan bills without consulting Democrats and then blaming them for not going along. “In our democracy, you have to compromise if you wish to govern” Schumer said.

The answer is not well.  

There were signs of a possible compromise Friday when Schumer and Trump met at the White House for lunch.

According to a source familiar with the discussions, Schumer and Trump discussed a DACA bill in exchange for Republicans’ full defense spending request and the possibility of Trump’s full border request, which would include money for a wall. Both men said they felt like they were close to a big deal, but probably needed a bill to continue government funding for a few days as they hammered out the details.

After some more back-and-forths between Schumer and Trump ― and Schumer and McConnell ― Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, called Schumer Friday night and said the framework of the DACA deal was too liberal. The deal was off.

Remember Trump said last week that he would sign off on any immigration bill that Congress worked out. Then Li'l Donnie apparently forgot he said that when someone (probably on Fox News) reminded him that Democrats have cooties and the DACA deal might make Obama happy so...

Once again, the self professed dealmaker in chief succeeds in screwing up a deal.  

Then as if he needed, Trump got help from Paul Ryan.  McConnell was open to voting on a deal for so-called Dreamers, but Ryan wouldn’t commit. That left Democratic senators feeling like their best route of negotiation was to vote against the continuing resolution.

Which brings us back to this.  

• Republicans say they won’t negotiate on immigration until Democrats vote to reopen government. 
• Democrats say they won’t vote to reopen government until Republicans negotiate on immigration. 

For more details on this story, click here.  

Poll Positions

Every day I wake up pissed off that I'm waking up in a country where Donald Trump is President.

AND...every day I wake up pissed off that I'm waking up in a country where there are people who actually voted for this fucking moron and still don't get that they made a HORRIBLE mistake.  

So there this headline.

Poll: More than half of Americans strongly disapprove of Trump

And I know I should take heart. "Hey, Dave-El! You're not alone, OK? MORE than half of Americans think Trump sucks! That's a majority of the people! Take solace in that number, Dave-El!"

Except that the cynical, angry as shit bastard that I am can't let go of the other half, can't let go of the other side of that equation, those that still do approve of this guy.

Who are these people? How fucking stupid can you be? Well, as stupid as this Republican female pole respondent from Georgia: "I am in awe that he has done so much in a year." 

In AWE? Really? AWE!!! What the fuck as he done? He's done nothing except make things worse. this is NOT an opinion! Trump objectively sucks at his job!

Then there's this Republican female from Alabama. "I think he's doing the best he can with all the negative or fake news, and all the Democrats and Republicans that are against him — the establishment Republicans." 

Oh my God! This person is just regurgitating whatever shit Trump tells her to think! Most of the negative news against Li'l Donnie is of his own damn fault. For example, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell didn't put a gun to his head and make him call African nations "shitholes" or any of the other dumbass things he's said or tweeted.

Trump is a MORON! He is his own MOROIN without help from any Democrats or  the establishment Republicans!

You "I think he's doing the best he can"? 

THE BEST HE CAN?!?

WHAT.

THE.

FUCK.

IS.

WRONG.

WITH.

YOU?!?!?

Can anyone...ANYONE?!?! besides me see the TRUTH bout this petulant man-baby? ANYONE?!?!?

No, I'm not alone.  

"A dumpster fire," said an independent male from California in summing up Trump's first year in office.

"He does not represent the values of the country," added a female Democrat from Wisconsin. "He has no compassion and he should not be our president."

Bless you, persons from California and Wisconsin. Yes, other people can see. 

But why oh why can't everyone see? 
_____________________________________

And by the way, the US government has shut down. Thoughts about that? Yeah, I have a few. More on that later.   

Fake News or Sour Grapes

A few weeks ago, Li'l Donnie Trump made an announcement that he would unveil  his Fake News Awards. The ever petulant man child in the Oval Office and on his private golf courses has been at war with the media over perceived slights in a less than glowing assessment of his reign...er, presidency.   

I figured these so-called awards would constitute some small but real errors in reporting that were quickly corrected by the media. I guessed the list would include some opinion pieces conflated with news and at least one story that Trump just plain doesn't want to admit is a thing, like Russian collusion. 

So how did these so called Fake News awards turn out?  


“1. The New York Times’ Paul Krugman claimed on the day of President Trump’s historic, landslide victory that the economy would never recover.”

Paul Krugman's piece was an opinion column, not a news report. And yeah the economy continued to do well through 2017. So Krugman's OPINION, not NEWS, was incorrect in the short term. But the impact a President might have on the economy isn't usually felt until later into his term.   

“2. ABC News’ Brian Ross CHOKES and sends markets in a downward spiral with false report.”

Brian Ross got his timeline wrong, claiming that former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had just pleaded guilty, was expected to testify that President Trump instructed him to contact Russian officials shortly after the election. ABC News corrected the error and Ross was suspended for his mistake.  



“3. CNN FALSELY reported that candidate Donald Trump and his son Donald J. Trump, Jr. had access to hacked documents from WikiLeaks.”

The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal and NBC News quickly reported that CNN had gotten it wrong. CNN admitted the error: "The new details appear to show that the sender was relying on publicly available information. The new information indicates that the communication is less significant than CNN initially reported.”

“4. TIME FALSELY reported that President Trump removed a bust of Martin Luther King, Jr. from the Oval Office.”

This was a tweet from a reporter, not an actual news report. And the reporter tweeted a correction less than an hour after the original tweet.

“5. Washington Post FALSELY reported the President’s massive sold-out rally in Pensacola, Florida was empty. Dishonest reporter showed picture of empty arena HOURS before crowd started pouring in.”

AGAIN: This was a tweet from a reporter, not an actual news report. And was corrected.  



“6. CNN FALSELY edited a video to make it appear President Trump defiantly overfed fish during a visit with the Japanese prime minister. Japanese prime minister actually led the way with the feeding.”


AGAIN: This was a tweet showing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump tossing spoonfuls of fish food into a Koi pond. What went viral was a clip of Trump appearing to quickly pour his entire box of food into the pond. But then it turned out that Abe went first. 


The CNN report noted: “The move got Trump some laughs, and a smile from Abe, who actually appeared to dump out his box of food ahead of Trump.”


I remember this story and yes, there was such mileage on the internet that Trump just got bored and dumped out all his fish food. But that fell apart when everyone got their story straight and Prime Minister Abe dumped his fish food first.


I don't think there was any indication that CNN edited anything, that the concept that Trump may have dumped his fish food first came from how the video feeds were released to reporters.



“7. CNN FALSELY reported about Anthony Scaramucci’s meeting with a Russian, but retracted it due to a ‘significant breakdown in process.’”


CNN screwed up, fixed it and issued a correction. Among the consequences for the error was the firing of three employees.    



“8. Newsweek FALSELY reported that Polish First Lady Agata Kornhauser-Duda did not shake President Trump’s hand.”


Newsweek screwed up, basing its report on a clip where Kornhauser-Duda appear to walk past Trump’s outstretched hand to shake Melania Trump’s hand. An extended clip was released, showing she then shook Trump’s hand.  Newsweek corrected the story.


Vanity Fair should complain to the Fake News Awards as they made the same error and did not get recognition for it? Vanity UNFAIR!  



“9. CNN FALSELY reported that former FBI Director James Comey would dispute President Trump’s claim that he was told he is not under investigation.”


ONCE MORE: CNN screwed up, fixed it and issued a correction.





“10. The New York Times FALSELY claimed on the front page that the Trump administration had hidden a climate report.”


OK, maybe the Fake News Awards has something here?  


The climate report was in fact publicly available for seven months. The Times did issue a correction with this line: "The report was uploaded to a nonprofit internet digital library in January but received little attention until it was published by The New York Times.”


Except that was not quite completely true. The Washington Post had written months earlier about the climate report, just not on the front page.


And finally....




“11. And last, but not least: “RUSSIA COLLUSION!” Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION!”


OK, so Trump and his Republican toadies keep trying to push the narrative there is no collusion. Fine and dandy if they want to believe that. But reporting on this story is not fake news. Special prosecutor Robert Mueller, appointed by the Trump administration, continues his investigation, as do congressional committees led by Republicans.


In short, this accusation of fake news against Trump is just a matter of reporting on a story that Trump does not like. If Mueller and the congressional committees conclude there was no collusion, the media will report that. I'm sure Trump will not call that fake news.


If Mueller and the congressional committees conclude there was collusion, the media will report that. I'm sure Li'l Donnie will suck on his thumb and pout that the media is being mean to him. 


All in all, most of the winners in the Fake News Awards were legitimate errors in fact that were followed by corrections. At least two reports led to persons involved being fired or suspended. There were mistakes, there were corrections to those mistakes and there were consequences for making those mistakes.  


It is an ethical standard that Trump has no understanding of. 


Mostly, this inane exercise just underscores how petty and thin skinned Trump is. Of course, his base will just see a list of errors made against their guy which is the whole point of the Fake News Awards, just to stir up the base. 


For everyone else with eyes and a working brain, this isn't a matter of fake news; this is just sour grapes from a petulant man-child who has no business being the president.  

Snowed In? Get Out!

Hi there!

Maybe by the time this posts, there will be a little less snow and ice surrounding the Fortress of Ineptitude here in central North Carolina. When I woke Thursday morning, the snow had finally stopped falling but the temperature was in the single digits.  

I worked from home Wednesday and did so for part of the day Thursday. Thanks to modern technology, snow and ice don't get me out of nothing.  

My wife Andrea is not so connected so a day in due to snow and ice is a day off from work. Likewise for my daughter Randie, a snow day from school is a day off from school.  

As always when I'm snowed in, I crave that which I do not have, even if what I don't have is not all that good. My biggest craving  during a snow day is for a quarter pounder with cheese from McDonald's. Really! 


We dug out our cars and Randie and I made a little trip around the neighborhood. Sides streets were covered with thick snow and ice while the main road near to our house was clearing but still messy with icy patches. Still it was a clear shot to our local McDonald's where they were having a BOGO special on quarter pounders. What luck!


After lunch, realizing I had more of the Fortress of Ineptitude than I could stand and that escape was in fact actually possible, I decided to flee to my office to work from work instead of work from home. 


I'm not big for working from home. You know what's at home? My bed for a nap! My TV! Stacks of comic books! I'm easily distracted. Did I mention my bed for a nap?  God but I love a good nap. 


It's even harder to work from home when 2 other people are also at home who are not working from home. They are just home.


Not a lot of people made the trek to work. I think there may have been three other people on my floor.  Probably for the same reason: sometimes, home has to be for home and work is where we work.


When you're snowed in, that's when you have to make a break to get out.