"Morning Edition turns 40 on Tuesday. Over the years, NPR's morning newsmagazine program has covered seven presidents, two Persian Gulf wars, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and nine Star Wars movies."
"What would a Hocus Pocus sequel even look like without the Sanderson Sisters? Thankfully, it’s not an idea we’ll have to ever entertain, because Winifred, Mary, and Sarah all want to come back! In a comment on Instagram (screenshot below), Sarah Jessica Parker confirmed that she, Bette Midler, and Kathy Najimy have all said 'yes' to Hocus Pocus 2." When I first saw Hocus Pocus I strained several cranial nerves with the eye-rolls. But over the years I've come to love the movie despite the over Disney schmaltz. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy took what they had and decided the only way it would work would be to go overboard, which they did. You can see they're all having fun making the movie. And that's what makes that movie worth watching.
"On a cold Monday morning in New Mexico, Boeing's Starliner spacecraft took flight for the first time. Under the power of its main launch abort engines, the capsule accelerated to 650mph in just 5 seconds during a demonstration of its escape system." Except for one chute failing to deploy, it looked good. Although it'll be good to wait to hear about how rough the landing was with only 2 chutes (which I believe is actually a separate test).
"The Trump administration has formally notified the United Nations that the U.S. is withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. The withdrawal will be complete this time next year, after a one-year waiting period has elapsed." We're boned.
"A team of Trump administration advisers – consisting mostly of appointees from private industry – are urging 'modernization' of national park campgrounds, with a vision of food trucks, wifi and even Amazon deliveries." Because they want people to be able to make choices. Listen, fucksticks, people who go to the parks are already making a choice to go without those things. Do the parks need upgrading? Oh, you bet they do. But not this stupid shit. Also, this will be used as an argument to "privatize" the parks. That's another bullshit idea. (Grokked from Laura J Mixon)
Who needs regulations? "The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed relaxing two Obama-era regulations on waste products from coal-fired power plants, a move environmental groups say would prolong the risk of toxic spills or drinking water contamination." Better living through poisoning the population.
"The world's two nuclear superpowers have never unleashed their atomic arsenals against one another, but two longstanding agreements that have helped keep the United States and Russia from doing so now appear to be on the verge of collapse." There is no such thing as a winnable nuclear war.
How go the Trade Wars? "Chinese President Xi Jinping said Tuesday that global frictions should be resolved through discussions, and encouraged cooperation rather than separation." Uh, yeah, Bob.
On the other hand, "Xi Jinping's message to Hong Kong: You're stuck with Carrie Lam."
"'At the end of any economic cycle, we often get warnings that appear to be unrelated,' (Blackstone strategist Joseph Zidle) wrote in a recent note. 'It’s in hindsight that we realize that they were not at all random.' Investors saw this during the runup and aftermath of the housing bubble, he added, and we’re seeing it now." Look at all those canaries lying on the floor.
"Voters in four states head to the polls today. These off-year contests may not be as high profile as the 2020 presidential and congressional elections will be a year from now, but they could offer some important hints on how voters are feeling about President Trump, impeachment, guns and more." Well, voters in all states head to the polls (go and vote), but these three are where the parties are testing their messaging and new technology. Results will also be seen as a test of where the American voting public is in regards to impeachment. Two are deeply red states (Kentucky and Mississippi), and one is a purple state (Virginia).
"A staff member for Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer used access he had previously been granted while working for the South Carolina Democratic Party to download data about rival Kamala Harris' campaign, state party officials said Monday." Well, at least he handled it well (immediately reported it, although he should have let others delete the information).
"Fox News host Sean Hannity on Monday claimed that President Donald Trump 'doesn't poll well,' before then attacking his own network's polls over unfavorable results for the president." That's hilarious. Just an editor note here, polling at this time, over a year before the election, is complete bullshit.
"President Trump has lost another legal fight in his efforts to keep his tax returns private. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that Trump's accounting firm must turn over the returns to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr." To the Supreme Court we go.
"President Trump's friend and political adviser Roger Stone is set to go on trial Tuesday in a proceeding that could reveal just how close Trump world got to the Russian interference in the 2016 election." Is that the theme of Jaws I hear?
"First, early Sunday afternoon, Trump held a media availability in which it took him less than a minute to contradict himself about his dealings with Ukraine. He falsely claimed 'nobody' with direct knowledge of the phone call… came forward to complain about it, but then in the next breath acknowledged that witnesses 'only came forward when you [i.e., the media] asked, and some of them are Never Trumpers.'… That claim, too, was false." There is no strategy.
Also, just going to say this here, with all these people on the call, or knew about the call, it's almost impossible to believe VP Mike Pence also didn't know.
So, how's the "release the transcripts" argument going? "Ousted former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch told congressional investigators that she was warned to 'watch my back' by a senior Ukrainian official, according to the newly released transcript of Yovanovitch's closed-door deposition before Congress."
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