demmiblue
demmiblue's Journal
Regina Spektor Performs 'Samson'
The Greatest Upset in Quiz Show History
On the tape, the Princeton boys come off as a caricature of what we would expect from Ivy League men. Suited up in matching black jackets, they look right out of a Mad Men episode. They introduce themselves with breezy self-assurance, with names like Jim, Steve, and Frank. They ooze self-confidence.
Their opponents? Four young ladies from a women’s college in Decatur, Georgia, wearing brightly colored dresses and nervous smiles. The students from Agnes Scott have spent months preparing for their debut on College Bowl, telecast live from Radio City Music Hall on NBC. The year is 1966. General Electric College Bowl is in its heyday, pitting teams of university students against each other in an intellectual gladiator match.
The host, veteran broadcaster Robert Earle, announces the competition’s opening whistle, pronouncing his “wh” in the old Atlantic style of “hwh-istle.” And one of the biggest upsets in quiz history is underway.
https://slate.com/culture/2018/08/agnes-scott-vs-princeton-college-bowl-the-biggest-upset-in-quiz-show-history.html
Californians Puzzled by Trump's Failure to Blame Wildfires on Hillary
In interviews with residents up and down the Golden State, Californians agreed with the assessment of Harland Dorrinson, a Modesto native, that Trump’s failure to pin the fires on Clinton was “nothing short of bizarre.”
“When he said that there wasn’t enough water to put out the fires, I naturally assumed he was going to accuse Hillary Clinton of sneaking into California and somehow stealing all of our water,” Dorrinson said. “It was so confusing when he didn’t.”
“I thought that the wildfires would be a perfect opportunity for Trump to accuse Hillary of being anti-water and pro-fire, but he didn’t even mention her,” Tracy Klugian, who lives in San Jose, said. “Maybe he’s really distracted by all this Russia stuff and he’s off his game.”
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/californians-puzzled-by-trumps-failure-to-blame-wildfires-on-hillary
New Poll: 43% of Republicans Want to Give Trump the Power to Shut Down Media
Source: The Daily Beast
Freedom of the press may be guaranteed in the Constitution. But a plurality of Republicans want to give President Trump the authority to close down certain news outlets, according to a new public opinion survey conducted Ipsos and provided exclusively to The Daily Beast.
The findings present a sobering picture for the fourth estate, with respondents showing diminished trust in the media and increased support for punitive measures against its members. They also illustrate the extent to which Trump’s anti-press drumbeat has shaped public opinion about the role the media plays in covering his administration.
All told, 43 percent of self-identified Republicans said that they believed “the president should have the authority to close news outlets engaged in bad behavior.” Only 36 percent disagreed with that statement. When asked if Trump should close down specific outlets, including CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times, nearly a quarter of Republicans (23%) agreed and 49 percent disagreed.
Republicans were far more likely to take a negative view of the media. Forty-eight percent of them said they believed “the news media is the enemy of the American people” (just 28 percent disagreed) while nearly four out of every five (79 percent) said that they believed “the mainstream media treats President Trump unfairly.”
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-poll-43-of-republicans-want-to-give-trump-the-power-to-shut-down-media?via=twitter_page
David Tennant: "Can I say, on behalf of the Scottish nation, we fuckin' don't!"
https://twitter.com/GLove39/status/1025727777063006208
Some Big Names in Republican Fundraising Are Financing Trump's Legal Defense Fund
Source: The Daily Beast
Some of the richest individuals in the energy, real estate and casino industries are financing a controversial legal defense fund to help the president foot legal bills associated with the federal investigation into Russian election meddling.
The fund, known as the Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust, was launched in late February 2018. Through June, the group’s top donor was Geoff Palmer, a Los Angeles real estate developer and one of the Trump 2016 campaign’s biggest financial supporters, according to financial records obtained by The Daily Beast. Palmer is followed by Phil Ruffin, a casino magnate and Trump backer, and Continental Resources, the oil and gas company founded and chaired by Harold Hamm, a high-dollar Trump donor and board member of pro-Trump dark money group America First Policies.
The group also reported income from ProActive Communications, which is run by the legal expense fund’s spokesman, Mark Serrano. ProActive has also done extensive business for the Trump re-election campaign since last year and Serrano has been a public defender of the president on cable. The legal expense fund has not reported any expenditures to ProActive.
Trump set up the fund to pay legal expenses incurred by White House officials and allies caught up in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trumpworld figures who’ve been questioned or prosecuted as part of that investigation have huge legal bills, sometimes stretching into the seven figures.
Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/some-big-names-in-republican-fundraising-are-financing-trumps-legal-defense-fund
Barack Obama recieves 2018 Ripple of Hope Award.
https://twitter.com/RFKHumanRights/status/1026456623311716354https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1026481404782235648
American Vogue reveals September cover starring Beyonce and it's a first
At just 23 years old, Mitchell is also one of the youngest photographers to have shot a Vogue cover. In an article published on the magazine's website today, Mitchell said: "For so long, black people have been considered things."
"We've been thingified physically, sexually, emotionally. With my work I'm looking to revitalize and elevate the black body."
The cover shoot took place just outside of London in the English countryside. On working with Beyoncé, Mitchell said, "You'd imagine someone as famous as Beyoncé to be protective of her image, but she was really an open book -- and that's exactly what you want as a photographer."
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/vogue-september-issue-beyonce/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_content=2018-08-06T15%3A29%3A02&utm_source=twCNN&utm_term=image
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