WORLD PEACE MEDITATION DAY UPDATES
Probably Not A Bad Idea To Meditate Before Any Hijinx Tonight!
-First, THANK YOU for reading these updates - and THANK YOU for those of you who have subscribed - and THANK YOU for those who have 'paid' for your subscription as a tip! It is deeply appreciated as I head into Year Two (and there WILL be a New Years Day Subscribers-Only piece up tomorrow - with more coming)! If you want to leave a tip you can do so with a paid subscription - OR!!! - you can Venmo a tip if you use @Joseph_Fedorko_1 (ah, the world of online monetization!) to do so. Also keep spreading and sharing - why not?!
-Now, on to a handful of updates ...
-Last night, Special Prosecutor Jack Smith dropped his response to Ex-President Trump XCI's brief in the upcoming hearing on January 9 regarding Trump's 'argument' that once you're President you can grab anything you want by the p***y and we as the world should let them. Smith's essential argument is "F U and Here's Why" - explaining that if one would allow a President to do whatever the Hell the President wants, it could lead to things like "accept(ing) a bribe in exchange for directing a lucrative government contract to the payer ... instruct(ing) the FBI Director to plant incriminating evidence on a political enemy ... order(ing) the National Guard to murder his most prominent critics; or ... sell(ing) nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary, because in each of these scenarios, the President could assert that he was simply executing the laws; or communicating with the Department of Justice; or discharging his powers as Commander-in-Chief; or engaging in foreign diplomacy.”
-Indeed, another part of Team Trump's argument is that everything Trump was doing up to and including January 6, 2021, was as official acts of being the President and not a whiny-arsed losing loser who lost and lost badly to Joe Biden - a point Smith counters simply by saying, elsewhere in his response, "The defendant lost the 2020 election."
-And as to the Trump spittle and stench about how Smith is acting as a tool for the evil-yet-decrepit Joe Biden and Trump and Trump alone is Saving Democracy from EEEEE-VIL, Smith b-slaps him by stating "To the contrary: it is the defendant’s claim that he cannot be held to answer for the charges that he engaged in an unprecedented effort to retain power through criminal means, despite having lost the election, that threatens the democratic and constitutional foundation of our Republic.” And then for good measure quotes several current Supreme Court justices throughout the brief, in anticipation of both a quick victory for Team Smith (as has been the case with every ruling on Presidential immunity by The Orange Stinker) and the likely inevitable appeal to SCOTUS, potentially by the end of January.
-Trump himself is shuffling and farting around Mar-a-Lago this weekend, interrupting weddings (as is his wont) without Melania anywhere to be found and continuing to whine online heading into 2024.
-As for his 'opponents,' well, they continue to show their utter spinelessness as Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis both promise that if they ever become President (don't laugh, especially thinking about Pudding Fingers Ron) they would pardon Trump for all the crimes Trump committed. Vivek Ramaswamy, in the meantime, continues to tease us by claiming he will drop out if Trump is, in fact, banned from various state ballots because of his insurrectionist actions (and then disappointing us by not dropping out). Trump appears to continue to have the upper hand in the GOP primary starting in a couple of weeks in IA.
-The wars continue, with multiple reports warning of Palestinian civilians approaching starvation while Israel continues waging what appears to be an increasingly indiscriminate war in Gaza against HAMAS (and increasing the intensity of their attack over White House objections and efforts to get them to relent), and Ukrainian civilians under increasing attack by Russian drones and missiles in apparent retaliation for Ukraine destroying or severely damaging a landing ship in occupied Crimea - as well as Russian claims of civilian deaths in a town near the Russia/Ukraine border (SLAVA UKRAINI!).
-As it is the end of 2023, 'tis the time for all sorts of bests and number ones and such. So, as is my wont, here are the top-selling and watched and listened-to bits of culture here in the U.S. for the year about to pass:
-Top Selling/Playing/Streaming Song: "Last Night" by Morgan Wallen
-Top Selling/Playing/Streaming Album: "1989 (Taylor's Version)" by Taylor Swift
-Top Selling Book (Fiction): "It Starts With Us" by Colleen Hoover
-Top Selling Book (Non-Fiction): "Spare" by Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex
-Top Network Television Series: NBC Sunday Night Football
-Top Watched Streaming TV Series: YELLOWSTONE
-Top-Grossing Movie: BARBIE
-Most-Watched Cable Network: Fox News (sigh) (also with the top "news" show, THE FIVE)
-Number One Streaming Service: Netflix
-Remember, if you go out tonight, use a Lyft or Uber or taxi or public transit. Amateur hours on the road are real. Or stay in and feel old, as Turner Classic Movies will be ringing in the new year with a rock documentary parody double-feature of THIS IS SPINAL TAP and FEAR OF A BLACK HAT.
-Sigh ...
- On this date in 1958, Fulgencio Bautista fled Cuba, allowing Fidel Castro to become its leader. On this date in 1991, the Soviet Union dissolved. On this date in 1995, the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip ran its last panel. A big day on this date in 1999 - the Panama Canal was handed over to Panama, and Boris Yeltsin resigned as President of Russia, allowing Vladimir Putin to take over (sigh). And on this date in 2019, the World Health Organization learned of what was then called a new "viral pneumonia" in the Chinese city of Wuhan that would rapidly become a worldwide pandemic we continue to battle to this day #CovidIsNotOver).
-Notable premieres on this date: the East India Company (1600), the incandescent light bulb (1879), the BBC's Big Ben chime ID (1932), MATCH GAME (1962), CNN Headline News (1981).
-Happy Birthday to Henri Matisse, Elizabeth Arden, George C. Marshall, Jule Styne, Simon Wiesenthal, George Schlatter, Odetta, Anthony Hopkins, Sir Alex Ferguson, Andy Summers, Ben Kingsley, John Denver, Taylor Hackford, Barbara Carrera, Diane von Furstenberg, Burton Cummings, Tim Matheson, Donna Summer, Tom Hamilton (Aerosmith), James Remar, Bebe Neuwirth, Paul Westerberg, Val Kilmer, Tyrone Corbin, Nicholas Sparks, Junot Diaz, Brent Barry, Tony Kanaan, PSY, Jason Campbell, and Gabby Douglas.
-Rest in Peace/Rest in Power to Pete Duel, Roberto Clemente, Marshall McLuhan, Raoul Walsh, Ricky Nelson, Sam Spiegel, Lloyd Haynes, George Allen (NFL), Elliot Richardson, Alan Cranston, Jose Greco, Eileen Heckart, Beth Howland, Natalie Cole, Wayne Rogers, William Christopher, Joan Micklin Silver, Richard Thornburgh, and Betty White.
-Feed the Worms: First spawn Donald "SCHNOOOOORRRTT!!!" (ALLEGEDLY) (eye roll) Trump Jr. and insurrectionist fister Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO, lives in VA) entered Earth on this date. Catholic sexual abuse cover-upper Pope Benedict XVI discovered he didn't end up where he thought he would end up when he bought it on this date.
-Saudi Arabia King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was born on this date. You decide if he gets a Happy Birthday or if he Feeds the Worms.