Ah maybe now we know why Trump was in such a Mood this morning.
The cover of the latest @NYMag: pic.twitter.com/TQjMbQwdO6
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) April 2, 2018
He won’t be framing that and hanging it on the walls of his golf resorts.… Read the rest
Class photo time again: Trump with the spring class of White House interns:
That’s nearly 100 people; I think I found four who are not white.
Also, how weird is it that all the women have the Trump-women look? The long hair worn down over the shoulders in front in the manner of Princess Ivanka – every single female person in the photo is wearing her hair that way. As a female person who had long hair in her youth I can tell you that’s not a natural or default way to wear long hair; the natural thing is to pull it all back out of the way and just leave it there. It’s weird to drape some of … Read the rest
Aaron Blake at the Post points out the undeniable fact that people who work for Trump know full well how thick he is.
Lost in the debate over whether President Trump should talk to Robert Mueller is this: The arguments against him doing it often betray a remarkably dim view of Trump’s intellect.
They do, of course. How could they not? Trump makes it blindingly obvious every time he opens his mouth or punches the buttons on his phone that he has no filter, aka is too stupid and heedless to discipline himself even in a situation of legal peril. That’s a remarkable fact, for sure, and with any luck it will soon cause him to perjure himself in … Read the rest
What happens when you let your attention wander for a minute and you elect a toddler to be chief executive of a country with a huge nuclear arsenal:
When Donald Trump was elected president, it quickly became obvious that the traditional national-security briefing a person in his position receives daily would be well beyond his zone of proximal development. The briefings were slimmed down in length, chopped up into easy-to-digest bullet points, and decorated with lots of graphs and pictures. Alas, the Washington Post reports, even the kiddie version of the presidential brief has proven too challenging. Now, Trump gets his briefing verbally.
Michael Wolf is very clear on this in Fire and Fury: Trump won’t read and … Read the rest
Here is Leo Igwe’s talk at a TED conference.
… Read the restAs a humanist, Leo Igwe doesn’t believe in divine intervention — but he does believe in the power of human beings to alleviate suffering, cure disease, preserve the planet and turn situations of poverty into prosperity. In this bold talk, Igwe shares how humanism can free Africans from damaging superstitions and give them the power to rebuild the continent.
This talk was presented at an official TED conference, and was featured by our editors on the home page.
Niall Ferguson feels put upon.
First sentence of his Times (the London one) piece explaining why he feels put upon:
It is not very fashionable to be a man these days, especially a white one.
Really? In what sense? Have men lost all their power, their privilege, their advantage over women?
Of fucking course not. What he means is that many of us have noticed the advantage and are trying to make things less unbalanced in the direction of always calling a man. He feels aggrieved because we’re no longer just taking it for granted that men should dominate everything and women should be an afterthought at best.
… Read the restLast month I organised a small, invitation-only conference of historians
Russian bots are springing to the defense of Fox bully Laura Ingraham, according to Business Insider.
As companies yank their ads from Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham’s show in droves, she continues to draw support from one key Twitter demographic: Russian bots.
The advertiser exodus comes after Ingraham insulted Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg’s grades on Twitter. The Fox News host announced Saturday that she would be taking a “pre-planned vacation” amid the controversy.
“Controversy” is too dignified for it. She’s a grown-ass adult who didn’t just see a bunch of her friends shot to death and felt entitled to bully a teenager who did. That’s not a controversy, it’s just hateful mindless shitty bullying in the style of … Read the rest
Photo of the day. Or week, or year.
When Obama saw this photo Pete Souza had take of him, he supposedly said, “the two most recognizable sets of ears in Washington.” pic.twitter.com/NsTWur4V2p
— Alexis Coe (@AlexisCoe) April 1, 2018
Seattle-based ABC affiliate KOMO-TV says its owner, the conservative-leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, is forcing its reporters to air pre-scripted segments about fake news media, in an attempt to undermine non-Sinclair stations.
Sinclair has long produced “must-run” segments for its stations, dispersing them to its various subsidiaries and requiring the local stations to run controversial, typically conservative commentary promos alongside their regular news coverage. However, in recent weeks, it’s begun turning its sights on the competition, throwing in mentions of “fake news,” among other things.
In other words it’s helping Trump’s authoritarian attacks on independent journalism.
… Read the rest“The promos, which began airing on the station last week, are part of a Sinclair campaign that forces local
Jennifer Rubin at the Post on the emoluments case ruling that granted standing:
In a decision with far-reaching implications for President Trump, a federal court ruled this week that a lawsuit could go forward claiming he unconstitutionally received foreign emoluments — that is, monies from foreign governments explicitly prohibited by the Constitution — from his hotel in Washington. The Associated Press reported:
A federal judge Wednesday allowed Maryland and the District of Columbia to proceed with their lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of accepting unconstitutional gifts from foreign interests, but limited the case to the president’s involvement with the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
There are other hurdles but that was the biggest one.
… Read the restIf Maryland and the
Benjamin Butterworth at Pink News yesterday:
… Read the restLabour’s shadow equalities minister hosted a string of anti-trans activists in parliament for an official meeting on ‘trans inclusion’, PinkNews has learned.
Dawn Butler, Labour’s lead MP on LGBT rights, met with activists opposed to transgender women being included on all women shortlists in an official capacity on Wednesday.
…
A spokesperson for the Labour Party told PinkNews: “All women shortlists are and always have been open to all women, which of course includes trans women.
…
“The Labour Party recognises the vital importance of self-declaration for the Trans community, which is why we are calling on the Government to reform the Gender Recognition Act and the Equality Act 2010 to change the
