NATIONAL MAPLE SYRUP DAY UPDATES
Whether On A Warm Breakfast Quick Bread or Used in an Old Fashioned - trust me on that one! - YAY for Maple Syrup!
-It's Holiday Crunch Time for me, what with both the end of the year in general and with the end of my Fall classes (for those who do not know, I am an adjunct instructor at 2-3 local universities in Chicago), so there's a bit of catching up to do. So, let's do it!
-We will begin in Ukraine, where one of the more daring and potentially provocative attacks of the conflict took place this morning, as Ukraine took credit for the death of Igor Kirillov, a Russian General responsible for managing the use of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons on the battlefield. The BBC reports the assassination involved the detonation of a bomb on an electric scooter that was detonated remotely at his home in southeastern Moscow. Ukraine labelled Kirillov a war criminal for his alleged use of such weapons as part of Vladimir Putin's invasion.
-The reports follow a London Telegraph report of heavy Russian and North Korean casualties in battles over the past week, and come at a time when both Ukraine and Russia are working to stave off domestic unrest (Ukrainians facing a third year of a harsh winter with severely damaged infrastructure due to Russian bombing, and Russia fighting economic crises spurred by deep devaluation of the ruble) while anxiously wondering WTF the new incoming American administration will do between his skepticism of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, antipathy towards NATO, and goo-goo-eyed adoration of the murderous Putin.
-SLAVA UKRAINI!
-Back here in the U.S., any inkling of newly-born babies and the terminally naive who thought for a nanosecond the appeasement meetings and donations/payoffs being made by multiple legacy media corporations to Dear Leader Donald Trump would mollify his longstanding toying hatred of them got a giant cup of Wake The F Up this morning, as Trump followed through on his promise-threat to sue the Des Moines Register and its former pollster, J. Ann Selzer, for 'brazen election interference.' The full-throated screech-whine from Trump comes despite Selzer releasing what turned out to be a wildly inaccurate poll that had Kamla Harris win when, sadly, Harris lost - and the result was so far off Selzer herself actually retired from polling after it. But that was not enough!
-The "interference" apparently involved not writing stories about how Trump is so virile women ovulate at his mere sight and men crumble in pools of fear at his entrance, and while the latter seems to be true given how many alleged Alpha Males - particularly those in the cyber-techno-bro-dom - the move may be one where Trump is using a frivolous lawsuit to summon the Register's corporate owner, Gannett, to come and kiss various Trump extremities while bending anything Trump commands him to bend before ultimately finding a way to screw them over anyway, because that is the Trump M.O. and Gannett has yet to supplicate themselves to him.
-One person who decidedly has chosen NOT to supplicate himself, however, is Judge Juan Merchan, who along with District Attorney Alvin Bragg, ruled last night that NO, Trump can NOT have his 34 felony convictions in connection with the payoff to Stormy Daniels dismissed, because (a) he ain't President now, (b) he wasn't President when he made the advances and threats, and (c) these are New York STATE convictions, so take your Supreme Court God-dom and SHOVE IT since that don't play in N.Y.C., Trump!
-Needless to say, Trump is Big Mad at Judge Merchan and is making someone, probably Steven Miller?, responding to how UNLEGAL and NONFAIR it is to not accept that Trump's stench is actually myrrh descended from God himself (and you can BET God's a MAN, bunky!).
-We take our wins where we can these days ...
-After a strong whip push by Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi - much of it taking place in a hospital room in Germany after breaking her hip in a junket to Luxembourg - VA Rep. Gerry Connolly has won the Chairmanship of the soon-to-be-very-visible House Oversight Committee for the upcoming Congress. Connelly defeated the leader of The Squad, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had gotten lots of Internet support after announcing her desire to run for the post in order to run the sidecar on Democratic opposition to All Things Trump.
-Connelly is hardly a Joe Manchin, but the race became symbolic over a generational battle between the 75-year-old Connolly and the 35-year-old social media star (over 6 million followers) and the younger Democratic generation. That Pelosi by most reports intervened as a result of a longstanding feud between her and AOC has led some on social media to label AOC a sellout and dampen Congressional support of Democrats at a desperately-needed time. Thant Connolly has battled (and may still be battling) esophageal cancer added an element of What Are We Doing and exasperation among the Progressive Cybersphere. (Not to mention stirrings for Pelosi to Resign Now for the reported pettiness).
-Speaking of the House, a continuing resolution to extend the national spending limit is coming to a Friday deadline with the typical mystery if or how it will pass. The MAGAGOP in that body is fractious on its best days, so as House Speaker Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Jay-EE-Zuz!, LA) looks to wrangle his orange cats, he will no doubt wait for a puff of smoke or Fish Delight steam (at least that's what it BETTER be!) from Mar-a-Lago to see when and for what this last bit of Biden-led budgeting will be passed.
-If you felt a breeze from DC today, it was Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries heaving a massive sigh of relief as FL Rep. Jared Moskowitz announced he will remain in his seat. Moskowitz, who won many on the left with sarcastic takedowns of many Trump sycophants (particularly in the Hunter Biden (dumdumdum) hearings) only to alienate some of them with full-voiced support of Israel's incursion into Palestine. All were surprised and concerned for different reasons at the news that Moskowitz was on the "short list" of potential appointees for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), leading to speculation he was interested in running for Governor of Florida when current MAGAt Ron "Puddin' Fingaz" DeSantis steps down in 2026, and opening what could have been be a competitive race and potential flipped seat. For now, he will continue to be a Trump/MAGA gadfly while serving Florida's 23rd District.
-The 2024 election is being certified nationally today. For the record, Kamala Harris lost the race by 1.7% - a margin tighter than the Hillary Clinton margin in 2016 and one that held Trump just under 50% - and that in the "battleground states" of MI, PA and WI, the margin between winning and losing was approximately 220,000 votes - more than the 74,000 Trump eked out in 2016, but hardly the Overwhelming Alpha Male Dominant Mandate to Beat All Mandates from Mandating that Team Trump is chortling about, and one that has led the usually extraordinarily skeptical of Democrats' Mehdi Hasan to ask in the Atlantic whether Democratic self-flagellation might actually be a touch overdone ...
-... perish the thought since the only group who loves to flagellate Democrats more than Republicans are, in fact, Democrats.
-Remember how gangbusters the stock market was going? Well, THIS JUST IN: today the Dow Jones lost value for the ninth day in a row - the longest such consecutive down market since 1978 when Jimmy Carter was still in the White House. While overall the loss is around 3% in what has been a stellar run for the last four years, it may be of interest to note that this current streak shortly after the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and did not stop after the NYSE opening bell was rung by Donald Trump on December 12 - in fact, the Dow dipped about 267 points that day.
-Womp womp.
-In Sportsball News, the NBA has announced a radical new All-Star Game format aimed at making the actual game part of the All-Star Game interesting again (most players do not play defense in the game, and scoring is insanely huge). In the format, the 24 elected and chosen NBA All-Stars will be split into three teams of 8, with a fourth team made up of first- and second-year Rising Stars from the Rising Stars winning team (that game is played on Friday). Former NBA, current TNT hosts, and future ESPN hosts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, and Kenny Smith will pick the three NBA teams (they made their first appearance over the weekend on ESPN with Stephen A. Smith - who won a free throw contest over Barkley and a left-handed shooting Kenny Smith - winning), with Candace Parker coaching the Rising Stars Team.
-From there, the All-Star Game will go with a four-team, first-to-40-points win mini-tournament, which will take place on the final day of All-Star Weekend. The rest of the weekend, including the celebrity game, skills competition, three-point-shootout and slam-dunk contest, will stay the same. The game is in San Francisco in February.
-Finally for today, the National Film Registry announced its 25 selections to be enshrined in the Library of Congress for preservation. The criteria involves movies that are representative of "cultural, historic, or aesthetic importance to preserve the nation's film heritage." This year's list includes a short movie from 1895, a silent cartoon from 1928, acknowledged classics including PRIDE OF THE YANKEES and THE MIRACLE WORKER, box office megahits like STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, BEVERLY HILLS COP and DIRTY DANCING, pop kitch including INVADERS FROM MARS, and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and critically-acclaimed movies including COMMON THREADS: STORIES FROM THE QUILT, MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, and THE SOCIAL NETWORK.
-Once you're done reading today's update - which you will be in a few moments - celebrate with a movie!
-On this date in 1777, France formally recognized the United States. On this date in 1944, the U.S. approved the end of the internment of Japanese Americans. On this date in 1963, the first Beatles record was played by DJ James Carroll in Washington, DC (it was "I Want To Hold Your Hand," of course). On this date in 1969, THE TONIGHT SHOW hosted the marriage of Tiny Tim to Miss Vicky. (It was a big deal at the time.) On this date in 1984, Run-DMC's self-titled album became the first rap album to become a Gold Record. On this date in 2010, a protest of oppressive rule in Tunisia that included the self-immolation of a protestor began what came to be known as The Arab Spring, as a number of countries in the region fought and in some cases defeated oppressive regimes in the months that followed. And on this date in 2014, the United States and Cuba briefly resumed diplomatic relations (they would end again in 2017).
-Debuts on this date: Buffalo Bill Cody on stage (1872), VOGUE Magazine (1892), the first manned flight in an airplane courtesy of the Wright Brothers (1903), the Clean Air Act (1963), HUNKY DORY (1971), THE SIMPSONS (1989), NAFTA (1992), THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING (2003).
-Happy Birthday to Emile Roux, Arthur Fiedler, Erskine Caldwell, William Safire, Dave Madden, Cal Ripken Sr., Art Neville, John Kennedy Toole, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Butterfield, Chris Matthews, Ernie Hudson, Eugene Levy, Wes Studi, Jim Bonfanti, Paul Rodgers, Ken Hitchcock, Barry Livingston, Bill Pullman, Mike Mills, Bob Stinson, Michele Tafoya, Rian Johnson, Giovanni Ribisi, Duff Goldman, Sarah Paulson, Milla Jovovich, Manny Pacquiao, Eli Pariser, and Chelsea Manning.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Simon Bolivar, Irving Caesar, Grover Washington Jr., Otto Graham, Jack Anderson, Sammy Baugh, Dan O'Bannon, Jennifer Jones, Captain Beefheart, Henry Heimlich, Galt MacDermot, Penny Marshall, and Hayden Fry.
-Feed the Worms: North Korean Dear Leader I Kim Jong-Il bought it on this date.
-Penthouse and Omni Magazine publisher Bob Guccione, Pope Francis, and current FBI Director Christopher Wray were born on this date. You decide if they get Happy Birthdays or if they Feed the Worms.
-And, since I didn't post on Sunday, let's post The Number One Albums in America on this date today!
-The Number One Album in America on this date ... in 2024, THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT by Taylor Swift ... in 2014, 1989 by Taylor Swift ... in 2004, COLLISION COURSE by Jay-Z and Linkin Park ... in 1994, MIRACLES: THE HOLIDAY ALBUM by Kenny G ... in 1984, PURPLE RAIN by Prince and the Revolution ... and in 1974, ELTON JOHN'S GREATEST HITS by Elton John.