A major new American deal with Iran was announced yesterday, in keeping with longstanding tradition for the lead-up to the inauguration of a new Republican president.

Boeing announced that it will sell 80 passenger jets to Iran Air for $16.6 billion, supporting almost 100,000 US jobs. The deal includes fifty 737s and thirty 777s to be delivered starting in 2018, and one wide-body 666 to be delivered at the sound of the last trump.

The deal puts Donald Trump in third place behind Pres. Obama and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for creation of American jobs this year. Khamenei has now saved or created more than 100 times as many jobs as Trump has, giving Trump just four years to catch up.

Khamenei told The Fucking News over beers last night, "Look. We get that Mr. Trump has fallen for the usual 'small business creates jobs' bullshit. We just want him to know that if he wants to understand the complexities of creating good, solid, American, manufacturing jobs, we're here for him. Assalaamu alaykum."

The new jets will feature added leg room and behead room, as well as spacious overhead compartments for stowing Jews. Boeing says some of the planes will be 14% more fuel-efficient than current models, helping Iran to reduce its dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

Trump told The Fucking News in an impromptu interview at four o'clock this goddamn morning when sane people are fucking asleep you goddamn maniac that the $16.6 billion price tag is too high and vowed to negotiate a better deal for Iran.

House Republicans last month passed a bill that could stop the deal. If Pres. Trump signs it, that will bring his job-creation total to -99,000.

(FILED UNDER REALLY GOOD HUMOR)

http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=bc6cfeeede3f05b8504f947c9&id=9703ac38a4&e=02dfd0c468

Reports that US intelligence believes Russia attempted to help Donald Fucking Trump become president by hacking information harmful to Hillary Clinton sent a shockwave through Washington this weekend, as politicians came to terms with the new reality that other powers can release information that will affect things.

After Trump dismissed the findings as not consistent with what he wants to believe is true--and belittled American intelligence in the process--US intelligence agencies were reported yesterday to be on alert for possible reprisals by Trump's forces, non-state Trump actors, or lone-wolf Terrorumpists.

The New York Times this weekend reported that Russia also hacked into Republican emails but did not release them because Russia is not covered by the Fairness Doctrine any more than American TV news is.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers vowed to investigate just as soon as they wrap up torture, the Iraq War, missed 9/11 warnings, and Pearl Harbor. Also, it turns out Congress knew about it at the time, Sen. Maj. Leader Mitch McConnell wanted to keep it quiet, and Democrats went along because they are Democrats.

http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=bc6cfeeede3f05b8504f947c9&id=9703ac38a4&e=02dfd0c468

‘Unnerving IQ’

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1i9o8CR_kjJ6mBd44k6CRZEhlXuZqq-XCCOoj-e8RJ7Q/edit#gid=0

The outrage over Steve Bannon has spilled over to Breitbart News, of which Bannon has been the Executive Chairman of for years. Multiple advertisers including Kellogg’s, BMW and others have begun pulling their advertisements, seemingly in a move to distance themselves from the controversial online newspaper. The move by Kellogg’s sparked outrage by Bannon and Breitbart, who have decided to call for a boycott of all Kellogg’s products, via their website, as a means to fight back.

The move by many of these large corporations to cancel ad contracts on Breitbart seems to already be hurting the company, as the majority of current ads on the news site are being fed to the site by Google and Taboola, which are third party ad providers, and there now appears to be no indication of any direct advertising on the site. The inventory appears to be so low that ads are now appearing on Breitbart touting Steve Bannon’s IQ as ‘Unnerving. The ad in question, which you can see in the image above, which directs to Brainsmuggler.com, and appears to be created merely to make money from a deluge of banner ads and popups, is likely earning Breitbart a few pennies per click.

While this ad likely isn’t created by Breitbart or Bannon, it is rather ironic that such an ad now appears on a site which is struggling to achieve meaningful revenue. Perhaps if Bannon’s IQ was really so ‘unnerving’ he wouldn’t have killed the hands that are feeding him.

and he's willing to do it whenever he feels like it.

CONWAY: So, President-elect Trump sees that he has this massive online platform. He says about 35 million on Twitter and Facebook combined. And he sees an opportunity to communicate right to people by cutting through the noise or the silence, whatever the case may be, through social media platforms. But see that through tweets now he can affect industry, he affected the stock market yesterday, frankly, and he did it twice. He did it in two different ways: first, by telling Boeing to cancel the project or maybe put it on hold. He thinks it's too expensive, it goes against his entire platform of cutting waste and abuse in the system. And then their stocks went down 1.5 percent yesterday. And then secondly, he went down to the lobby in Trump Tower where the media are, and he announced a $50 billion -- that's with a "b" -- investment by SoftBank.

http://thedailybanter.com/2016/12/trump-will-keep-using-twitter-to-manipulate-the-stock-market/

and he's willing to do it whenever he feels like it.

CONWAY: So, President-elect Trump sees that he has this massive online platform. He says about 35 million on Twitter and Facebook combined. And he sees an opportunity to communicate right to people by cutting through the noise or the silence, whatever the case may be, through social media platforms. But see that through tweets now he can affect industry, he affected the stock market yesterday, frankly, and he did it twice. He did it in two different ways: first, by telling Boeing to cancel the project or maybe put it on hold. He thinks it's too expensive, it goes against his entire platform of cutting waste and abuse in the system. And then their stocks went down 1.5 percent yesterday. And then secondly, he went down to the lobby in Trump Tower where the media are, and he announced a $50 billion -- that's with a "b" -- investment by SoftBank.

http://thedailybanter.com/2016/12/trump-will-keep-using-twitter-to-manipulate-the-stock-market/

The state has OK’d a politically charged “Festivus” pole for display in the Capitol this holiday season.

The Department of Management Services, which oversees state property, cleared the pole to have a place in the plaza-level rotunda, spokeswoman Maggie Mickler said Thursday.

The all black, six-foot-tall pole “will contain the names of all unarmed black men killed by police in 2016,” according to the application from South Florida activist and former blogger Chaz Stevens.

Stevens now runs the Religious Liberty Project, which plans to put a “Shot by Cops” pole in all 50 state capitals.

“Additionally, a distressed black and white American flag will be flown at half-mast, lowered in protest to this senseless slaughter,” he said on the group’s website.

“Kneeling at the base is the number 7, painted in the colors of the San Fransisco 49ers, signaling our support for those who peacefully and silently protest,” referring to quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

He has gained attention—and opprobrium—for not standing during the National Anthem as a protest over the treatment of African Americans by police.

Mickler said DMS also approved a winter solstice poster from the First Coast Freethought Society in Jacksonville.

The only other application received is from All Saints Catholic Ministry of Lehigh Acres, Mickler said. Though the application mentions a display of “possibly (a) nativity scene,” she said the group now just wants to put up a “seasonal banner.”

Stevens previously has been approved to install a pole made of empty Pabst Blue Ribbon beer cans, meant to mark Festivus, the fictional holiday from a 1997 episode of “Seinfeld.”

Last year, the pole was gay-pride themed, in rainbow colors with a disco ball on top.

Fiona Apple’s remake of Nat King Cole’s ‘The Christmas Song’ is the holiday song 2016 has been asking for.
Video has been taken down unfortunately


Trump’s nuts roasting on an open fire
as he keeps nipping at his foes.
you’ll cry creepy uncle
every time he arrives
for he keeps clawing at your clothes
everybody knows some money and entitlement
can help to make the season white
mothers of color with their kids out of sight
will find it hard to sleep at night.

They know that truuump is on his way.
he’s got black boys in hoodies locked up on his sleigh
and every working man is going to cry
when they learn that Letch don’t care how you live or if you die

Sooo I’m offering this simple phrase
to kids from 1 to 92
although it’s been said many times, many ways
Merry Christmas to you
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas
Donald Trump, fuck you

"If Clinton Releases Electors to Vote Republican, Trump Can Be Stopped"

By Ben Cohen

I have been extremely uneasy about weighing in on the movement to get the electoral college to block Trump on December 19th by refusing to vote for him due to a number of reasons.

Firstly, the immediate fallout would be spectacular, and Trump supporters would almost certainly protest violently. Second, if Clinton were to win by default, she would not have a strong mandate to govern and would likely be a lame duck president. While Hillary Clinton handily won the popular vote, Trump's victory was completely legitimate and denying him the presidency would create chaos and further destabilize the country at an already chaotic time. Thirdly, the Democrats would (rightly or wrongly) bear the brunt of the fallout as they'd be continuously vilified for undermining the democratic process.

There is however, another solution has been floated by a Cato Institute scholar that would turn the blocking of Trump into a bi-partisan effort with shared responsibility between the parties. Writing in the Washington Post, Michael F. Cannon argues that all 232 Democratic electors pledged to vote for a Republican alternative:

The only way Democrats stand any chance of persuading Republican electors to abandon Trump is with a dramatic gesture of true bipartisanship. If all 232 Democratic electors pledge to reach across the aisle and vote for a Republican alternative to Trump, it would take just 38 GOP electors to make that person the next president.

If Clinton announced she is releasing “her” electors and asked them to vote for a credible Republican alternative, she could plausibly deliver all 232 Democratic electors. She might even secure similar pledges from House Democrats in the event the election went to the House.

The idea may seem far fetched, but Cannon could actually be on to something. No one close to power believes Donald Trump is remotely qualified to run the country, and given his behavior in the weeks since winning, he's showing no signs of respecting the office he is about to hold. Blocking Trump is an extreme measure, but it must be remembered that we are dealing with an extreme threat. This is after all, a man who brags about sexually assaulting women, lies so often he can't remember any of the positions he has previously taken, and has stacked his administration with a horror show of corrupt proto-fascists that would cause irreparable damage to the country.

Of course the GOP is unlikely to get onboard with any of this, and despite the threat Trump poses to their long term viability as a political party, they've show absolutely no inclination to stand up to him in any meaningful way. But if the Democrats at least made the proposal, then the electors could make up their own minds and vote knowing they really were fulfilling the obligations of the electoral college -- to elect a responsible, credible candidate to the presidency of the United States, and stop men like Donald Trump.

It's a long shot, but at this point anything is worth trying.

Why rig the election state by state when you can do the entire country in one fell swoop?

Oregon just announced that its "opt out" automatic voter registration system significantly boosted voter turnout in an election that saw below average voting most everywhere else. Coincidentally, Hillary Clinton walloped Donald in Oregon by 10 points.

It's a political law that higher voter participation is bad for Republicans. This is the specific purpose behind the wave of Voter ID laws that just happen to target Democratic voters the most. But even with their systemic voter suppression, Republicans still just barely squeaked out an Electoral College win against Clinton. And that was also with Russia, Wikipedia, the FBI and the "liberal" press doing everything they could to make her lose. Republicans know this.

Less than 100,000 votes in the other direction and we would be talking about how the changing demographics of the country have doomed the Republican Party. Instead, we're supposed to be talking about how the Democrats need to reject minorities and cater to white people again. But nothing has changed. The Electoral College map is still the same and the demographics are still shifting rapidly away from the Republicans. In less than 20 years, most of the reliably conservative (and white) Baby Boomers will be dead, replaced by the far more diverse and far less intolerant Millennials. Republicans know this.

http://thedailybanter.com/2016/12/national-voter-id/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ny-times-received-200000-new-digital-subscriptions-election-day-ceo-says-952723

The New York Times has seen paid subscriptions online skyrocket since the election on Nov. 8.

"We've seen really remarkable growth," reaching to over 200,000 new digital-only subscriptions during the fourth quarter, New York Times CEO Mark Thompson on Monday said of subscriber growth since the election during a presentation to the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference that was webcast.

"We've seen weeks of 10 times the subscription adds that we saw in the same period last year," Thompson said, adding no traditional lull in the news cycle following a U.S. president election has occurred as Donald Trump and his presidential transition team continue to attract the attention of media consumers.

"We're seeing ... a surge and I would say more broadly that we expect the lively news cycle to continue in America well into 2017," he added as Trump gets set for his Jan. 20 inauguration.