Seriously, They Ought to Have to Hang Up Their Spurs

And let somebody with a clue take the reins.



...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Oh, Holy Baby Jesus

Donald Trump told the New York Times on Wednesday that Ben Carson will sit on his committee to help select a running mate now that the real estate mogul is the presumptive Republican nominee.

"I’ll set up a committee, and that I will do soon," Trump said when asked how he will choose a vice presidential running mate. "I think on the committee I’ll have Dr. Ben Carson and some other folks."

  TPM

Good thing he added "and some other folks", otherwise I'd bet you anything you want that Carson would pull a Cheney and pick himself.

Time for Chris Christie to climb a little further up Donald's ass. He could have to defend that position.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

How Does That Work?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Yeah, Because One Glass Is the Same As a Daily Diet

I get it - it's "the optics", as they say in the business. But this is some of the dumbest bullshit. It's for kids, right? "See, Honey? Daddy drank it.  It's okay."

Stick around Flint for a year or so, and drink your recommended eight glasses per day.  Then tell us how you feel.  THAT would have meaning.

He did the same thing after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf. Went down to Louisiana and ate a shrimp dinner.

Have some pride, dude.  And stop insulting thinking people.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Herr Trump Leads Us Into the Past

Like about 1930s.

Meanwhile, Bernie picked up some delegates, beating Hillary 52.5% to 47.5%.  (What the Guardian is calling a "shock victory".  ??)  Not enough.

Obama ushered in the era of the Presidential trophy wife, didn't he?  What country is this anyway? France?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 5/4:

Shelly Has a Big Sad

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon ["Shelly"] Silver has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in a prosecution that exposed corruption of state government at the highest levels. A stern Judge Valerie Caproni sentenced him Tuesday. It represents a stunning and steep fall for the Manhattan Democrat who was one of New York's three most powerful political figures for two decades.

[...]

[Judge Valerie Caproni] fined the 72-year-old Manhattan resident $1.75 million and added a $5.3 million forfeiture order.

[...]

The government [had] asked that he serve substantially more than a decade in prison. Prosecutors also want[ed] the judge to fine him $1 million. They cite the more than $2 million in assets he has and the fact that he will receive $70,000 in pension for the rest of his life.

[...]

The 72-year-old lower Manhattan resident was convicted last year in a $5 million corruption case. A jury concluded he traded favors to enrich himself and then lied about it.

  AP Big Story

I wonder where he'll do time until he has his big heart attack sending him to a secure hospital for the remainder of his life.

UPDATE:

Mr. Silver must surrender himself by noon on July 1; his lawyers have requested that he serve at the Federal Correctional Institution in Otisville, N.Y., a prison known for its familiarity with the housing of Orthodox Jewish prisoners.

  NYT

So, he has a little while to figure out a different plan.

Known for its " familiarity with the housing of Orthodox Jewish prisoners?"

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Another Hospital Strike in Syria

Rebel fighters launched an assault in Syria's divided northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday and fired rockets on a hospital, in the latest violence to hit civilians as diplomats struggled to restore an unraveling ceasefire and resurrect peace talks.

  Reuters

Jesus Christ.

Imperialism at Its Worst

Two Caribbean islands are at a crossroads in their relationship with the US. One is plagued by corruption and debt, and dotted with crumbling homes, abandoned by families for the imperial power nearby. The other is Cuba.

  Guardian

Know who it is?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Public Service Announcement

WTD!

That article advises Android users to delete the word ducking from your dictionary.  I think a better fix is to add fucking to it.  Otherwise, how can you say you're ducking out of your office meeting without being obscene?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

And Now....Today's Leak

(Actually, yesterday's)

The Dutch chapter of the environmental activist group Greenpeace on Monday disclosed a trove of documents from the talks over a proposed trade deal between the European Union and the United States.

The documents, Greenpeace said, showed that American trade negotiators had pressed their European counterparts to loosen important environmental and consumer protections, along with other provisions.

  NYT

I guess Greenpeace didn't like Obama's remarks about negotiations being kept quiet until after the US presidential nominations were decided.

But American and European trade officials, while not denying the validity of the materials, insisted on Monday that the documents — 248 pages, which Greenpeace said amounted to two-thirds of the latest negotiating text — merely represented negotiating positions, and that the criticisms were off base.

Damage control.  Triage.

Today’s shock leak of the text of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) marks the beginning of the end for the hated EU-US trade deal, and a key moment in the Brexit debate. The unelected negotiators have kept the talks going until now by means of a fanatical level of secrecy, with threats of criminal prosecution for anyone divulging the treaty’s contents.

[...]

The European Commission slapped a 30-year ban on public access to the TTIP negotiating texts at the beginning of the talks in 2013, in the full knowledge that they would not be able to survive the outcry if people were given sight of the deal.

[...]

The documents show that US corporations will be granted unprecedented powers over any new public health or safety regulations to be introduced in future. If any European government does dare to bring in laws to raise social or environmental standards, TTIP will grant US investors the right to sue for loss of profits in their own corporate court system that is unavailable to domestic firms, governments or anyone else.

[...]

The leaked texts also reveal how the European Commission is preparing to open up the European economy to unfair competition from giant US corporations, despite acknowledging the disastrous consequences this will bring to European producers, who have to meet far higher standards than pertain in the USA.

According to official statistics, at least one million jobs will be lost as a direct result of TTIP – and twice that many if the full deal is allowed to go through.

  Independent

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.