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Ideas on Events & Culture from Washington DC.

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‘America’s Rifle,’ American Carnage

In the February 14th school shooting in Parkland Florida, 17 people were killed with an AR-15 type rifle, legally purchased by an 18-year-old American citizen too young to legally buy beer. It has long been known that the assault-style AR-15, which the NRA calls “America’s Rifle,” is the mass killer’s weapon of choice. After an assault-style weapon killed 5 children at a school in Stockton California in 1994, Congress passed a ban on the civilian sale of semi-automatic assault-style firearms and high-capacity magazines, but the law was allowed to expire in 2004. Since then, such massacres have increased 183 percent with a 239 percent increase in massacre deaths.

After 2004, U.S. gun manufacturers re-branded variants of the military-derived AR-15 as the “Modern Sporting Rifle” even though the gun is terrible for hunting. It was designed to do maximum damage to the human body. Just ask Dean L. Winslow, MD.

It’s not just this Florida school shooting. Assault-style rifles have been used in recent mass killings in Aurora Colorado (22 dead), Newtown Connecticut (26 dead), Santa Monica California (6 dead), Colorado Springs (3 dead), San Bernardino (14 dead), Orlando (49 dead), Las Vegas Nevada (58 dead), Roseburg Oregon (9 dead), and Sutherland Springs Texas (26 dead).

Is it time to bring back the assault weapon ban? The surviving students at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School seem to think so. The Second Amendment shouldn’t be a suicide pact. The Founding Fathers never saw an AR-15.

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Trump Wants His Own Parade

President Donald Trump (Capt., New York Military Academy High School, retired), who calls the U.S. military leadership “my generals,” has given those leaders their “marching orders.” He wants a parade. A big, magnificent military parade, bigger than the one in Paris on Bastille Day, with thousands of marching troops, flags and bands and military pomp, cannons and missiles and fighter jet overflights, with humvees and tanks and stuff. The parade would go down Pennsylvania Avenue, right past the Trump International Hotel (reserve your room now!), on July 4th. Or Memorial Day. Or maybe Veteran’s Day. It would honor our troops, our president, U.S. military might, our president, America’s proud military tradition, and our brilliant commander-in chief.

A Big League parade. Bigger than Macron’s. Bigger than Eisenhower’s. Bigger than Kim Jong-Un’s. Bigger than Putin’s, or Erdogan’s, or Mao’s, or Mussolini’s or that other guy’s. Oh sure, it would take U.S. troops out of training and take equipment off-line and cost tens of millions of dollars, and the tank treads would chew up DC pavement, but what a grand spectacle!

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Trump to Meet Real Billionaires at Davos

Serial bankrupt and reality-TV star Donald Trump will meet some real billionaires when he joins the global titans of business, finance, and economic policy in two weeks at the 48th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. Mr. Trump, an ethnocentric isolationist who publishes his economic policy on baseball hats, will converse with Nobel laureate economists, world leaders, and international financiers on the theme “Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World,” which “will make a case for renewed commitment to international collaboration as a way of solving critical global challenges.” Since this is the kind of elite crowd and Globalist agenda Mr. Trump campaigned against, his presence at the Forum is baffling, especially since the Davos golf season ended in October.

The 2018 Forum is co-chaired by 7 powerful women: Sharan Burrow (General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation), Fabiola Gianotti (Director-General, European Organization for Nuclear Research – CERN), Isabelle Kocher (CEO of French multinational electric utility company ENGIE), Christine Lagarde (Managing Director, International Monetary Fund — IMF), Ginni Rometty (Chairman, President and CEO,IBM Corporation), Chetna Sinha (Founder and President, Mann Deshi Mahila Bank and Mann Deshi Foundation), and Erna Solberg (Prime Minister of Norway). Mr. Trump’s last meeting with women of so many nations involved a swimsuit competition, and didn’t have a code of conduct.

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Obsequious Factotum Stephen Miller

Right-Wing ideologue and Trump staffer Stephen Miller took umbrage last weekend  when CNN’s Jake Tapper wouldn’t let him hijack an interview to give a big, televised, wet kiss to a single viewer, Donald Trump. Mr. Tapper cut him off and called him “obsequious,” a “factotum.” Millions reached for Merriam-Webster. After years as a fawning neo-fascist toady, Stephen Miller (Steve Bannon’s typist) was recently promoted to obsequious factotum after writing the sulfurous Trump Convention speech.

Mr. Miller denied being escorted out of the CNN studios by security after the aborted interview,, despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

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How Much Is That In Pesos?

President Donald Trump, the great deal maker, wants U.S. taxpayers to pony up $18 billion to pay for the first leg of his border wall, saying “in some form, Mexico will pay for the wall.”

If you’re counting on this, US $18 billion is 345,295,800,000.00 Mexican Pesos. No aguantes la respiración (don’t hold your breath).

Related:

“Nation with Crumbling Bridges and Roads Excited to Build Giant Wall,” Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker

“Four things Trump could spend $18 billion on instead of a border wall,” Oliver Staley, Quartz

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Library of Congress Stops Archiving Twitter

Way back in 2010, the Library of Congress announced its plan to archive all public messages on Twitter (on Twitter, of course), starting with the very first tweet, the Twitter equivalent of the Gutenberg Bible.

That was then. On December 26, 2017 the Library pulled the plug on Twitter. While preserving a text archive of all tweets from the first 12 years of Twitter (2006-2017), the LoC will be more selective from here on out.

More:

“The Library of Congress Quits Twitter,” Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker

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Richard III’s Parking Lot

In 2013, Richard Plantagenet of the House of York, better-known as King Richard III, was discovered under a parking lot in Leicester, England, where he had been since 1485. He was quite dead, so authorities made no attempt to collect 500-years-worth of parking fees.

The scruffy lot, site of Greyfriar’s monastery when Richard III entered long-term parking, was recently declared a national historic site. It’s convenient to the King Richard III Visitor Centre, which notes: “Despite King Richard III being known as the car park king, there is no parking available at the Visitor Centre.” Park at ye olde Holiday Inn or the Highcross Shopping Centre.

More:

“Leicester car park where Richard III was buried given protected status,” Maev Kennedy, The Guardian

“English Car Park Where Remains Of Richard III Were Found Declared A Monument,” Scott Neuman, NPR

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Bachmann Eyes Senate Run

Former Swiss citizen and ex-Congresscreature Michele Bachmann has her crazy eyes on the Wisconsin senate seat recently vacated by Al Franken. Mrs. Bachmann previously represented the 6th District of Minnesota, the Planet Mars, the Tea Party Caucus, and the voice of the Lord, and considered running for president in 2016. Her 2012 presidential bid triggered FEC and Congressional Ethics inquiries.

More:

“Michele Bachmann tells televangelist she might run for Al Franken’s Senate seat,” Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post

“Former congresswoman Michele Bachmann eyes Senate run for Al Franken’s seat,” Jessica Estepa, USA Today

Related:

“Return To Bachmann-ia: Here’s What Michele Bachmann Has Been Up To,” Matt Shuham, TPM DC

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NutellaGate

“McDonald’s restaurants in Italy serve it on hamburger buns. Lifestyle websites cheekily offer lists of “signs you’re addicted to Nutella.” And at least one German soccer team dropped a player who couldn’t stop eating it.

Yes, a legion of snackers live for the hazelnut spread. And they’re not happy.

Nutella confirmed on its Twitter feed Wednesday that the recipe “underwent a fine-tuning” after Germany’s Hamburg Consumer Protection Center said on Facebook that  it appeared the recipe had changed.”

“‘Real cool,’ wrote one user, adding, ‘why not draw a mustache on the Mona Lisa too?’”

— “‘How dare they’: Nutella changes recipe, sending its fans to the edge,” Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post

More:

“Choc horror: fans outraged by Nutella’s secret recipe change,” Rebecca Smithers, The Guardian

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Body-Slamming Congressman Made False Statements to Police

Republican Congressman Greg Gianforte of Montana, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault for slamming a reporter to the ground and punching him during his election campaign, made false statements to police during the investigation of the attack, newly-released documents show. The reporter, Ben Jacobs of the Guardian, questioned the candidate about the CBO analysis of a House healthcare bill, and got screaming and assault as an answer and, although the attack was witnessed by an astonished Fox News crew, Mr. Gianforte blamed the reporter, an account he gave to police but later contradicted in court.

The day after the attack, Greg Gianforte was elected to the House. After all, Montana voters had already elected a dangerously impulsive rich guy who hates the media and press freedom to the White House, so adding another one to Congress was a reflex.

More:

“Rep. Gianforte’s account to police on assault of reporter appears to contradict his later apology,” Ellie Silverman, Washington Post

“Greg Gianforte misled police after assault of Guardian journalist, incident report shows,” Julia Carrie Wong, The Guardian

“Montana Congressman Who Assaulted Reporter Lied to Police About It,” Benjamin Hart, New York Magazine

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Trump’s Heavy Workload: Golf & More Golf

President Donald Trump is spending Thanksgiving weekend at his members-only Mar-a-Lago golf club.

“Over the course of his presidency, Trump has spent all or part of 98 days at properties associated with his private business — once every 3.1 days. He’s probably played golf 60 times, once every 5.1 days. We say ‘probably’ because Trump doesn’t like to admit when he’s playing golf, again because he wants to give the impression that he’s always working.”

“Trump’s team insists he has a ‘full schedule’ an hour before he goes golfing,” Philip Bump, Washington Post

More:

“Trump says he will achieve Middle East peace – after a quick round of golf,” Martin Pengelly, The Guardian

“Thanksgiving is Trump’s 100th day at a Trump property as president,” Avery Anapol, The Hill

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Gloves, Because Poor People Touch These Things

Hedge fund manager and foreclosure king Steve Mnuchin, the current Secretary of the Treasury, recently visited the U.S. Mint to see newly-printed currency with his name on it. Mr. Mnuchin was clad in a plain dark suit, accessorized with a red tie and his newly-minted wife, the minor film star Louise Linton. Ms. Linton once represented a Scottish leather goods company, and was disappointed that her name could not be printed on the bills next to her husband’s as the Treasury’s “Brand Ambassador.”

Louise Linton was clad in about $10,000-worth of black leather Michael Kors garb she ordered straight from the catalog. The gloves alone cost $625; it would take more than a dozen of those uncut $1 bill sheets she’s holding to buy them.

Mr. and Mrs. Mnuchin previously raised the public eyebrow when they took a government plane to view the total eclipse from the roof of Fort Knox, the U.S. Government gold depository. “Glad gold is safe!” tweetedthe Secretary later, probably because his wife wasn’t carrying a bullion-sized purse. Ms. Linton wore Hermes, Tom Ford, and Valentino for that occasion.

More:

“‘Like Bond villains’: What happened when Steven Mnuchin and his wife posed with a sheet of money,” Eli Rosenberg, Washington Post

“Louise Linton Clearly Wants America to Hate Her as Much as Possible,” Lizzie Crocker, Daily Beast

“Louise Linton Gets Mocked for ‘Disney Villain’ Style After Previous Tone-Deaf Outfit Controversy,” Jillian Ruffo, People

“With Long Leather Gloves, a Sheet of Money, and a Smize, Louise Linton Strikes Yet Another Pose in DC,” Kaitlin Menza, Vogue

“The Treasury Secretary’s Wife,” Kevin D. Wiliamson, National Review

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Corporate Person Opens Bible Museum In DC

Today a well-known corporate person, Hobby Lobby, opened the Museum of the Bible in a former warehouse near the railroad tracks in Southwest Washington DC. Once the Washington Design Center, the original building was built as the Terminal Refrigeration and Warehouse Company in 1923.

The new tourist attraction features a ballroom modeled after Versailles (mentioned in la Nouveau Testament, maybe?), replicas of the village of Nazareth and the Jerusalem Chamber of Westminster Abbey, holograms, the Drive Thru History of the Bible Theater, and a restaurant serving biblically themed meals. Oh, and some historic books and 40,000 artifacts from the Green Family collection (sorry, the artifacts the family smuggled from Iraq were confiscated and won’t be on view). To ensure historical accuracy, the museum has the same advisor as the Creation Museum, where dinosaurs romp with cavemen. In fact, while museum admission is free (a $15 donation is suggested), there’s an amusement park price structure, where you pay to see each special exhibit or attraction.

Hobby Lobby CEO Steve Green and his family believe the government of the USA is based on Christian biblical principles, and the family has enough money to share that misconception with an unsuspecting public.

Unbelievers can beat the church-going crowds. Unlike Hobby Lobby stores, the Museum of the Bible is open on Sundays from 10 AM to 7 PM.

More:

“Just What Is the Museum of the Bible Trying to Do?” Candida Moss and Joel Baden, Politico

“Jefferson took a blade to his Bible: Presidents, faith and the new Bible museum,” Rachel Siegel, Washington Post

“We’re All Living in Hobby Lobby’s Bible Nation,” Sarah Jones, New Republic

“Mystery at the new Bible museum: Are its Dead Sea Scrolls fake?” Daniel Burke, CNN

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Roy Moore, Shopping Mall Romeo

Roy Moore, defrocked judge and gun-slinging, theocratic, racist homophobe, is currently the Republican candidate for Jeff Sessions’ old U.S. Senate seat. He’s also been accused of sexually molesting teenage girls when he was a 32 year old assistant district attorney. Five women have come forward so far. He was a persistent creep, hitting on teenybopper shoppers, waitresses and clerks, and was finally banned from the Gadsden Mall. As Jennifer Rubin points out, if Roy Moore can be banned from a shopping mall, he can be kept out of the U.S. Senate. Most Americans, the RNC, and Republican leadersagree, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is preparing for that possibility.

The Alabama Special Election is on December 12th.

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The Underage Loves of Roy Moore

If you don’t know yet, Twice-defrocked Alabama judge and gun-slinging theocratic racist homophobe Roy Moore, currently Alabama’s Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, has been accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl. He was 32 years old at the time and an assistant district attorney. Three other women have claimed he tried to make it with them when they were teens, too, and he plied one with wine when she was underage. There have been rumors of Mr. Moore’s “woman issues” for years, and a former colleague says it was common knowledge he dated high school girls.

Roy Moore has said he “didn’t generally” date teenage girls when he was in this thirties, attacked and threatened to sue the Washington Post for running the story (reported by three women), and started raising moneybehind the scandal (the GOP has cut off his funding). Yesterday another woman came forward and described in detail how Mr. Moore sexually assaulted her when she was 16 and threatened her to keep her quiet. He can’t say he didn’t know her then since he signed her high school yearbook. Said Mitch McConnell: “I believe the women, yes.” That’s when Republican officeholders stopped hedging and called for the candidate to withdraw. He isn’t going to quit the race, though, and might even win it, since his evangelical Alabama base would rather vote for a child molester than a Democrat. If Roy Moore is elected, there’s a good chance the senate would expel him.

The Alabama Special Election is on December 12th.

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School Supplies

“Florida Christian School in Miami put a few order forms on its website to make school supply shopping easier. Parents can purchase their children T-shirts bearing the school’s logo or some snugly winter wear. Or, for $120, they can buy them bullet-resistant panels designed to slip into their backpacks in case of a school shooting.”

— “Florida school lets parents buy bulletproof panels for students to put in backpacks,” Travis M. Andrews, Washington Post

More:

“It weighs less than a book and can stop a bullet. It’s a backpack option at Miami school.” Alex Harris, Miami Herald

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More and More Frequent

“… there are now fewer days between mass shootings and more fatalities. In the 1990s, an estimated 159 people were killed in mass shootings. That figure rose to 171 people in the 2000s. So far this decade, at least 381 people have been killed in mass shootings.”

“… less deadly mass shootings rarely receive the same degree of media attention because they simply happen so frequently. The last mass shooting prior to Sunday happened just four days earlier, when Scott Allen Ostrem, 47, walked into a Walmart in Denver and fatally shot two men and a woman, before leaving the store and driving away.”

— “Not your imagination: mass shootings now happen more frequently in the US,” Mona Chalabi, The Guardian

More:

“No Matter How You Measure Them, Mass Shooting Deaths Are Up,” Rob Arthur, FiveThirtyEight