Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

January 2017

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on January 05, 2017 15 Comments
Russian leader Vladimir Putin has gained influence in Europe as Chancellor Merkel further isolates Germany with her open borders policy. According to British newspaper Daily Express, "Angela Merkel is losing her grip on power as European leaders openly side with Vladimir Putin." Despite months of back-channel European diplomacy, Merkel and top E.U. officials have failed to impose tougher sanctions against Russia aimed at forcing Putin to stop supporting Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad. Merkel's inability to unite European states could be attributed mainly to her refugee policy. Poland, Hungary and almost all the eastern European states have rejected Merkel’s call to follow Germany's example and open their borders to uncontrolled migration from Arab and Muslim countries.

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 04, 2017 50 Comments
Shortly after Donald Trump won November's presidential election, Mary Chastain reported that a white motorist in Chicago had his car hijacked while being taunted by a  black mob that mocked and assaulted him, while shouting anti-Trump language. Those arrested for the hijacking were between 17 and 26 in age. Despite the clear shouting of anti-Trump slogans and racial nature of the assault, the media tried to downplay the incident. Now, another group of young Chicago thugs are under arrest for a racist and anti-Trump assault.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 04, 2017 6 Comments
The Clean Air Moms Action, part of the Environmental Defense Action Fund, has started a $100,000 campaign against President-elect Donald Trump's EPA nominee Scott Pruitt. The campaign will use children's health concerns in ads in Washington, D.C. and six states that have "senators who could swing the confirmation vote." What an original technique! Using children to attack your opponent because you don't hate children, do you? Yeah, well, evidence has shown that Pruitt embraces science. Also, the EPA has done a stellar job with environment disasters, haven't they?

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on January 04, 2017 7 Comments
Fast food joint Wendy's has a new social marketing strategy that's both hilarious and effective. I mean, we're blogging about it, right? The strategy is simple -- roast the dissent. During my daily internetting yesterday, I saw this, which is seems to be tweet zero:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2017 3 Comments
We previously covered, in exhaustive detail, the upcoming vote on Saturday, January 7, on three resolutions at the Modern Language Association:
The Modern Language Association is at it again: at this year’s annual MLA meeting in Philadelphia, academic boycotts of Israel are on the agenda. Thus continues the Settler Colonial attempt by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) to hijack American faculty organizations. The 24,000 member organization, comprised of faculty in the fields English and other non-classical foreign languages, will be debating (again) whether to boycott their colleagues in Israel, and would extend to the Academy of the Hebrew Language.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2017 48 Comments
We have covered many times how Democrats laid the foundation for Republicans to use the Nuclear Option for a Trump Supreme Court nominee. That Nuclear Option would construe Senate Rules to only require 51 votes for cloture, effectively eliminating the filibuster, the 60-vote requirement to close debate. The foundation was laid in 2013, when Democrats, who then controlled the Senate and presidency, used the Nuclear Option to eliminate the filibuster for almost all Obama nominees. Harry Reid was gloating about going nuclear. Republicans warned that Democrats would regret the day.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on January 04, 2017 5 Comments
This is the type of edgy comedy Saturday Night Live would produce, if it had the guts to offend the thought police. Instead, it's from the BBC2 show Revolting:
The satirists behind a controversial BBC sketch depicting “The Real Housewives of Isis” have argued that comedians must be allowed to tackle religious fundamentalism.

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 04, 2017 22 Comments
Republicans gathered on Capitol Hill with Vice President-elect Mike Pence to discuss Obacamare where he announced that President-elect Donald Trump plans to use executive action to repeal the law:
“It will be an orderly transition to something better ... using executive authority to ensure it’s an orderly transition," Pence told reporters. "We’re working now on a series of executive orders that will enable that orderly transition to take place even as Congress appropriately debates alternatives to and replacements for ObamaCare.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on January 04, 2017 17 Comments
Sen. Joe Manchin (W-VA) told Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe that he will not attend a meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss how to save Obamacare:
“No, I’m not. I just can’t, in good conscience, I can’t do it,” he said. “If anyone listened and paid attention to what the American people said when they voted, they want this place to work.”

Posted by Leslie Eastman on January 04, 2017 19 Comments
As I noted in my review of Rogue One, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the film was the digital return of Peter Cushing in the role of Grand Moff Tarkin, despite his 1994 death. In the wake of Carrie Fisher's sudden death, speculation is that this technique could allow the character of Princess Leia to continue despite the loss of the talented actress.
It’s impossible to predict how big a role Leia might have in the final film of Star Wars’ triple trilogy, Episode IX, which is due for release in mid-2019. There could also be spin-off stories, a la “Rogue One,” that will continue even after Episode IX’s release. If filmmakers were contemplating a role for Fisher in any of those movies, they’re facing a huge hole in their scripts. And one option to fill it could be the strategy that was used in “Rogue One”: creating computer-generated, motion-capture characters.

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 04, 2017 43 Comments
Until recently, it wasn't known which of the living presidents would attend Trump's inauguration. Jimmy Carter was quick to accept the invitation but George W. Bush had reasons to skip the event due to the many clashes between Trump and Jeb Bush. Bill Clinton had an even more obvious reason to be busy that day. It turns out everyone is going, even Hillary. New York Magazine reports:
Bill and Hillary Clinton Will Attend the Trump Inauguration Bill and Hillary Clinton have decided to attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States, according to two sources with knowledge of their plans. The Clintons will join former Presidents George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter, who have also announced that they will attend. George and Laura Bush said today that they would be present “to witness the peaceful transfer of power.”
MORE POSTS
Accessibility by WAH