Archives for December 2019

We’re living in extraordinary times of peril and destiny. And that calls for a drink! Please join us this evening for our weekly meeting of the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally. It’ll be memorable.

We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. Look for us in the back room of the pub beginning about 8pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle? Check out one of the 266 chapters of Living Liberally, including 22 in Washington state, seven in Oregon and three in Idaho. Find a chapter near you. Or start a new chapter for your community!

Somewhat inexplicable to me, some far left critics of Pete Buttigieg have decided that he was working for the CIA. And while he is not my candidate by a long shot, I kind of have to defend him.

There are 2 parts to this. First he worked for a consulting firm that had an NDA. I don’t know enough about the specific firm, but in general NDA’s are bad, but they’re the company, not the employee, who impose them.

The second thing is that he went to Somalia once: A thing that we only know about because he literally wrote about it in the New York Times. Now, I am also not an expert on CIA procedures but it strikes me that this is probably not how they operate:

1) Send a couple people into a country for one (1) day.

2) Meet with officials publicly.

3) Go to the marketplace.

4) Unspecified crimes.

5) Go check out ancient caves.

6) Write about it in an article that’s very critical of US foreign policy including quoting people calling it corrupt.

7) Run for President the first election it’s Constitutionally possible.

Seems like he would keep a lower profile.

But the serious thing I want to say is this: If you see someone promoting this nonsense uncritically, they are a bad source of information; Not just on this specific thing, but going forward.

Solana Rice: How America created its shameful wealth gap

Physics Girl: How the edge of our galaxy defies known physics

Full Frontal Rewind: American greed.

Chris Hayes: GOP Congressman still in Congress despite guilty plea!

Roll Call: Congressional hits and misses of the week.

Mental Floss: 26 facts about fossils.

The Atlantic: : The hidden crisis in rural America.

The Dotard Трамп and Other Impeachable Characters:

• Trevor: The Dotard feuds with France at the NATO summit
• Rachel Maddow: Трамп team still stoking Ukraine story despite US intel warning
• Reflect: A Stanford legal scholar breaks down why Трамп is guilty of bribery in front of Congress
• Stephen: Трамп’s golf club employees spill the beans on their boss
• WaPo: How Rudy Giuliani went from ‘America’s mayor’ to the man at the center of the Ukraine scandal
• Now This: World leaders caught on camera mocking The Dotard
• Ari Melber: Трамп impeachment defense shredded as Ukraine still missing key funding
• The Late Show: We know what North Korea got America for Christmas
• WaPo: When William Barr has echoed Трамп’s rhetoric
• Lauren Mayer: I’m dreaming of a White supremacist Christmas:

• Lawrence O’Donnell: Neal Katyal weighs in on potential articles of impeachment against The Dotard
• Conan chats with Chelsea and Hillary.
• Jimmy Kimmel: PROOF that the world is laughing at The Dotard Трамп
• Rachel Maddow: Sen Chris Murphy—Трамп inconsistency is “an absolute foreign policy disaster”
• Trevor: Pelosi presses on & constitutional scholars testify
• Now This: How Трамп got caught red handed by the impeachment inquiry
• Ari Melber: Трамп could be impeached partly for admissions on FAUX News
• Stephen: Congress looks likely to charge Трамп with abuse of power, bribery, and obstruction
• James Corden: It’s time to draft articles of impeachment
• Trevor: World leaders caught talking shit about Трамп
• WaPo: From Spicer to Giuliani—How SNL female cast members break the gender mold
• Jimmy Kimmel: No one has “never met” more people than The Dotard Трамп
• Chris Hayes: The Dotard Трамп likes 2 and a half of things—including his orange makeup
• Stephen: Pelosi, impeachment and make-up sex.
• Reflect: Shady reporter asks Nancy Pelosi if she hates Трамп, Pelosi [confiscates his balls]
• Rachel Maddow: Rep. Eric Swalwell & Rep. Pramila Jayapal talk about how the Mueller report will likely influence articles of impeachment
• WaPo: When Republicans have sounded like Vladimir Putin on election interference
• The Late Show: Don’t mess around with Nancy:

• Mark Fiore: McConnell & Senate
• Chris Hayes: What is “phenomenally dangerous” about this political moment
• Maddow: Senate Intel report debunking Russian Ukraine story completed
• Jimmy Kimmel: Pelosi moving forward with impeachment
• Conan: What people watched instead of the impeachment hearing
• Lawrence O’Donnell: Neal Katyal—Republicans struggle to defend “smoking gun” in impeachment inquiry
• Stephen: Трамп arrives at NATO summit already angry with America’s allies
• Ari Melber: Rudy Giuliani’s odd Ukraine trip may widen legal exposure
• James Corden: Princess Anne, Trudeau shade The Dotard
• Now This: Impeachment witness tears into Republican assholes
• Rachel Maddow: Impeachment hearing takes vital step of consulting constitution

Wendover: Amtrak’s grand plan for profitability.

Jim Jefferies: The most invasive species of all.

Vice News: Greta Thunberg—It would be “absurd” for everyone to cross the ocean by sailboat.

Vox: How online ratings make good schools look bad.

Today I Found Out: How did the cold war start and end?

The Atlantic: The climate hellscape is coming, and capitalism can’t save us

Roy Wood, Jr.: Cutting-edge meat alternatives for carnivores who want to save the world.

Minute Physics: Why do mirrors flip left & right (but not up & down)?

Twenty-twenty Vision:

• Stephen: Biden gets feisty on his “No Malarkey” Iowa bus tour
• Trevor: Bloomberg’s bucks, Buttigieg’s beef and Biden’s bite
• Conan: The Biden campaign on their “No Malarkey” slogan
• WaPo: Harris dropped out of the 2020 election. What happened?
• Trevor: Biden’s Iowa brawl
• Daily Show: Joe Biden’s super dated “no malarkey” slogan

Roll Call: Drug CEOs are being taken to task for the opioid crisis. Here’s how.

Minute Earth: The great acceleration.

Chris Hayes: Rep. Denny Heck gives first interview after announcing retirement from Congress:

Jim Jefferies: The rules for appropriating from other cultures.

Vox: This goofy bird vs. the fossil fuel industry.

Rachel Maddow: Russian transgressions met with increasingly weak US response

WaPo: Did Devin Nunes just file a halfway-decent defamation suit?

Now This: 2019 was the year the youth climate movement stood up.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Are you signed up for Obamacare? If you need it, you can sign up by the 15th. I know that health care is still not as good as much of the world, but get signed up.

I had not picked a Presidential candidate, but Harris was in my top tier. And she was my first top tier candidate to drop out. I was surprised by how much it stinks that she’s out. She has been an amazing Senator, and it will be good to see her back there full time.

Please join us this evening as the Seattle Chapter of Drinking Liberally gathers for pre-holiday celebrations and libations. You probably won’t regret it.

We meet every Tuesday at the Roanoke Park Place Tavern, 2409 10th Ave E, Seattle. Look for us in the back room of the pub beginning about 8pm.

Can’t make it to Seattle? Check out one of the 267 chapters of Living Liberally, including 22 in Washington state, seven in Oregon and three in Idaho. Find a chapter near you. Or start a new chapter for your community!

Congrats to Patti Gosch on becoming the first Washington State Patrol tribal liaison. It seems like a monumental task. I hope that the guidelines for missing indigenous women are thorough enough.