#craig seligman

[wttnblog]

The 7 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023

Welcome back to the 2023 Best of the Year Lists! Last year, we ranked the 50 best books of 2022. This year, we broke books down into two separate categories depending on if they are fiction or nonfiction. This makes both lists a bit shorter, but it provides better granularity and ensures a much more fair ranking. I was the only one on the team to read and review nonfiction books this year, so…

[fuckyeahwomenfilmdirectors]

Top 10 of 2023

Polite Society dir. Nida Manzoor

Rye Lane dir. Raine Allen-Miller

Showing Up dir. Kelly Reichardt

Blue Jean dir. Georgia Oakley

Reality dir. Tina Satter

How to Have Sex dir. Molly Manning

Anatomy of a Fall dir. Justine Triet

Past Lives dir. Celine Song

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret dir. Kelly Fremon Craig

A Thousand and One dir. A.V. Rockwell

Honourable Mentions:

Fair Play dir. Chloe Dumont, Priscilla dir. Sofia Coppola, The Pod Generation dir. Sophie Barthes, You Hurt My Feelings dir. Nicole Holofcener, Bottoms dir. Emma Seligman

[dear-indies]

full list of biden letter 2:

Aaron Bay-Schuck Aaron Sorkin Adam & Jackie Sandler Adam Goodman Adam Levine Alan Grubman Alex Aja Alex Edelman Alexandra Shiva Ali Wentworth Alison Statter Allan Loeb Alona Tal Amy Chozick Amy Pascal Amy Schumer Amy Sherman Palladino Andrew Singer Andy Cohen Angela Robinson Anthony Russo Antonio Campos Ari Dayan Ari Greenburg Arik Kneller Aron Coleite Ashley Levinson Asif Satchu Aubrey Plaza Barbara Hershey Barry Diller Barry Levinson Barry Rosenstein Beau Flynn Behati Prinsloo Bella Thorne Ben Stiller Ben Turner Ben Winston Ben Younger Billy Crystal Blair Kohan Bob Odenkirk Bobbi Brown Bobby Kotick Brad Falchuk Brad Slater Bradley Cooper Bradley Fischer Brett Gelman Brian Grazer Bridget Everett Brooke Shields Bruna Papandrea Cameron Curtis Casey Neistat Cazzie David

Charles Roven Chelsea Handler Chloe Fineman Chris Fischer Chris Jericho Chris Rock Christian Carino Cindi Berger Claire Coffee Colleen Camp Constance Wu Courteney Cox Craig Silverstein Dame Maureen Lipman Dan Aloni Dan Rosenweig Dana Goldberg Dana Klein Daniel Palladino Danielle Bernstein Danny Cohen Danny Strong Daphne Kastner David Alan Grier David Baddiel David Bernad David Chang David Ellison David Geffen David Gilmour & David Goodman David Joseph David Kohan David Lowery David Oyelowo David Schwimmer Dawn Porter Dean Cain Deborah Lee Furness Deborah Snyder Debra Messing Diane Von Furstenberg Donny Deutsch Doug Liman Douglas Chabbott Eddy Kitsis Edgar Ramirez Eli Roth Elisabeth Shue Elizabeth Himelstein Embeth Davidtz Emma Seligman Emmanuelle Chriqui Eric Andre Erik Feig Erin Foster Eugene Levy Evan Jonigkeit Evan Winiker Ewan McGregor Francis Benhamou Francis Lawrence Fred Raskin Gabe Turner Gail Berman Gal Gadot Gary Barber Gene Stupinski Genevieve Angelson Gideon Raff Gina Gershon Grant Singer Greg Berlanti Guy Nattiv Guy Oseary Gwyneth Paltrow Hannah Fidell Hannah Graf Harlan Coben Harold Brown Harvey Keitel Henrietta Conrad Henry Winkler Holland Taylor Howard Gordon Iain Morris Imran Ahmed Inbar Lavi Isla Fisher Jack Black Jackie Sandler Jake Graf Jake Kasdan James Brolin James Corden Jamie Ray Newman Jaron Varsano Jason Biggs & Jenny Mollen Biggs Jason Blum Jason Fuchs Jason Reitman Jason Segel Jason Sudeikis JD Lifshitz Jeff Goldblum Jeff Rake Jen Joel Jeremy Piven Jerry Seinfeld Jesse Itzler Jesse Plemons Jesse Sisgold Jessica Biel Jessica Elbaum Jessica Seinfeld Jill Littman Jimmy Carr Jody Gerson

Joe Hipps Joe Quinn Joe Russo Joe Tippett Joel Fields Joey King John Landgraf John Slattery Jon Bernthal Jon Glickman Jon Hamm Jon Liebman Jonathan Baruch Jonathan Groff Jonathan Marc Sherman Jonathan Ross Jonathan Steinberg Jonathan Tisch Jonathan Tropper Jordan Peele Josh Brolin Josh Charles Josh Goldstine Josh Greenstein Josh Grode Judd Apatow Judge Judy Sheindlin Julia Garner Julia Lester Julianna Margulies Julie Greenwald Julie Rudd Juliette Lewis Justin Theroux Justin Timberlake Karen Pollock Karlie Kloss Katy Perry Kelley Lynch Kevin Kane Kevin Zegers Kirsten Dunst Kitao Sakurai KJ Steinberg Kristen Schaal Kristin Chenoweth Lana Del Rey Laura Dern Laura Pradelska Lauren Schuker Blum Laurence Mark Laurie David Lea Michele Lee Eisenberg Leo Pearlman Leslie Siebert Liev Schreiber Limor Gott Lina Esco Liz Garbus Lizanne Rosenstein Lizzie Tisch Lorraine Schwartz Lynn Harris Lyor Cohen Madonna Mandana Dayani Mara Buxbaum Marc Webb Marco Perego Maria Dizzia Mark Feuerstein Mark Foster Mark Scheinberg Mark Shedletsky Martin Short Mary Elizabeth Winstead Mathew Rosengart Matt Lucas Matt Miller Matthew Bronfman Matthew Hiltzik Matthew Weiner Matti Leshem Max Mutchnik Maya Lasry Meaghan Oppenheimer Melissa Zukerman Michael Aloni Michael Ellenberg Michael Green Michael Rapino Michael Rappaport Michael Weber Michelle Williams Mike Medavoy Mila Kunis Mimi Leder Modi Wiczyk Molly Shannon Nancy Josephson Natasha Leggero

Neil Blair Neil Druckmann Nicola Peltz Nicole Avant Nina Jacobson Noa Kirel Noa Tishby Noah Oppenheim Noah Schnapp Noreena Hertz Odeya Rush Olivia Wilde Oran Zegman Orlando Bloom Pasha Kovalev Pattie LuPone Paul & Julie Rudd Paul Haas Paul Pflug Peter Traugott Polly Sampson Rachel Riley Rafi Marmor Ram Bergman Raphael Margulies Rebecca Angelo Rebecca Mall Regina Spektor Reinaldo Marcus Green Rich Statter Richard Jenkins Richard Kind Rick Hoffman Rick Rosen Rita Ora Rob Rinder Robert Newman Roger Birnbaum Roger Green Rosie O’Donnell Ross Duffer Ryan Feldman Sacha Baron Cohen Sam Levinson Sam Trammell Sara Foster Sarah Baker Sarah Bremner Sarah Cooper Sarah Paulson Sarah Treem Scott Braun Scott Braun Scott Neustadter Scott Tenley Sean Combs Seth Meyers Seth Oster Shannon Watts Shari Redstone Sharon Jackson Sharon Stone Shauna Perlman Shawn Levy Sheila Nevins Shira Haas Simon Sebag Montefiore Simon Tikhman Skylar Astin Stacey Snider Stephen Fry Steve Agee Steve Rifkind Sting & Trudie Styler Susanna Felleman Susie Arons Taika Waititi Thomas Kail Tiffany Haddish Todd Lieberman Todd Moscowitz Todd Waldman Tom Freston Tom Werner Tomer Capone Tracy Ann Oberman Trudie Styler Tyler James Williams Tyler Perry Vanessa Bayer Veronica Grazer Veronica Smiley Whitney Wolfe Herd

Will Ferrell Will Graham Yamanieka Saunders Yariv Milchan Ynon Kreiz Zack Snyder Zoe Saldana Zoey Deutch Zosia Mamet

[grandhotelabyss]

What we really need is a book in the style of Craig Seligman's Sontag and Kael: Opposites Attract Me about Sontag and Paglia.

I thought Deborah Nelson's Tough Enough—which I liked—should have ended with a Paglia chapter. The fact that it didn't, and for what I take to be political reasons, suggests why Paglia has the upper hand in my view: she's not going to be as easily recuperated by the institutions while she's alive. It's hard to imagine Paglia earning the admiration of a consummate professional like Merve Emre. Which is ironic, because Sontag proudly never taught and expressed only bitter contempt for academia while she was alive, while Paglia has faithfully taught for pretty much her whole adult life, if at a wary art-school distance from official academe. (Sontag was good at finding people, even princesses, who would pay her bills; Paglia perhaps not so much, or perhaps, to give her more credit, she regards herself as having a vocation.)

Politically, Sontag was always on the right side of bien-pensance, which I find slightly contemptible; people are allowed to change their minds, but still, if she'd maintained the political views she held in the '60s into the '90s then she would have been on the Michael Parenti side of Yugoslavia (or, conversely, her '90s views in the '60s would have put her on Updike's, Ellison's, and Nabokov's side of Vietnam).

On the other hand, Paglia was and remains too credulous about pop culture, and Sontag's later turn against it—if at times too much in the style of what Kael called the Come Dressed as the Sick Soul of Europe Party—was basically right. Almost her last act on earth was to canonize Bolaño, while Paglia was claiming George Lucas as our greatest living artist.

Paglia's historical scope and emotional register are broader, and for this she'll always have my heart; Sontag couldn't have written a Paterian prose-poem in honor of the bust of Nefertiti or of a Tamara de Lempicka painting. But Sontag probably was more politically sophisticated, and the moral conscience that mortified and tormented her aestheticism created tremendous drama, and for this she will never lose my admiration; Paglia couldn't have issued the prophetic injunctions of Illness as Metaphor or On Photography.

Hilariously but predictably, the moralist Sontag was apparently bad news as a friend, lover, or family member, if gossip and biography are to be believed, while the aesthete Paglia is by all accounts a perfectly kind person in private life.

(When dealing with moralists, you should always bear in mind this line from "The Soul of Man Under Socialism": "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." When dealing with aesthetes, you should always bear in mind Basil Hallward's charge against Lord Henry Wotton: "You never say a moral thing, and you never do a wrong thing.")

Paglia lived one side of the binary dividing them to the full, every inch the diva dancing a step of Apollonian precision even in Dionysian frenzy, whereas Sontag allowed—or couldn't have avoided it if she'd tried—Athens and Jerusalem, never mind Apollo and Dionysus, to go to war inside her mind. In that sense, they're not an equal match. I probably love Paglia more as a writer—that is, I love the spectacle she creates on the page—whereas what I love about Sontag, not that she didn't write many unforgettable sentences, is the exemplary tragicomedy of the life of her mind.

I suppose those are some notes toward the book we need.

[01sentencereviews]

“New-To-Me” - August 2023

Elephant (1989, Alan Clarke)

Teknolust (2002, Lynn Hershman-Leeson)

Charade (1963, Stanley Donen)

Star 80 (1983, Bob Fosse)

Mod Fuck Explosion (1994, Jon Moritsugu)

+++

Actress (2014, Robert Greene)

An American in Paris (1951, Vincente Minnelli)

Bug (2006, William Friedkin)

Dragged Across Concrete (2018, S. Craig Zahler)

Funny Face (1957, Stanley Donen)

New Releases:

Birth/Rebirth (Laura Moss)

Bottoms (Emma Seligman)

Full Circle (Steven Soderbergh)

Incredible But True (Quentin Dupieux)

Passages (Ira Sachs)

Smoking Causes Coughing (Quentin Dupieux)

To Catch a Killer (Damián Szifron)

[instantbelieverwhispers2]

Sapphic Signals – Bookforum Magazine

[daggerzine]

You Gotta Lose? Hell, Some Of Us Ain’t Dead Yet by Mary Leary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0fz3FVBlOE

NRBQ has done so many amazing songs. I never thought much about “Roll Call,” from Tiddlywinks - for one thing, it has a lighter, almost Billy Joel sound that’s more about latter day Terry Adams style than what I think of as the classic Q. Yet just as Adams’ work has grown on me, this track has made its way into my consciousness. The lyrics speak to me more in 2020 than they did when Tiddlywinks was released in 1980, before the D.C.-area music scene had lost Robert Goldstein (Urban Verbs), Kevin MacDonald (brilliant visual artist and scene stalwart who helped me design and layout [The] Infiltrator), Danny Gatton disciple/guitar maverick Evan Johns, bassist Michael Maye from the original H-Bombs, Rick Dreyfuss (Half Japanese/Chumps/Shakemore), Libby Hatch and Michael Mariotte  (Tru Fax and the Insaniacs), Sally Be/Berg - REM/Egoslavia/SHE/Robert Palmer), Nurses member Marc Halpern (heroin, 1982), Lorenzo (Pee- Wee) Jones (Tiny Desk Unit) and hybrid rocker Jim Altman (HIV, 1990s).  Goldstein, Dreyfuss, Maye and MacDonald succumbed to cancer, while Evan Johns’ deterioration followed years of touring, hard drinking and pushing himself past the limit.

(Top to bottom: Tommy Keene, Kevin MacDonald, Susan Mumford)

Those named above have been joined by Tommy Keene (the Rage/the Razz/solo/Paul Westerberg/Matthew Sweet - cardiac arrest at the age of 59; 2017), TDU’s Susan Mumford (cancer, 2018), David Byers (Psychotics/H.R./Bad Brains), and Skip Groff (Yesterday and Today/ Limp Records/Dischord - seizure, 2019).  This is just an imperfect/incomplete naming of D.C.-area losses - I’m sure journalists from other cities could make lists. A horde of New Wave and early alternative musicians have died within the past few years. Whether through the stress of hard living/poverty, substance abuse, cancer or Covid-19, we’re seeing artists pass much earlier than I, anyway, expected them to.

(Top to bottom: Fred "Freak” Smith, Michael Maye with Evan Johns, Tru Fax and the Insaniacs)

We’re already past the loss of all the original Ramones. All the Cramps less Poison Ivy. Joe Strummer. Robert Quine. Hilly Kristal. Lou Reed. As of July, 2020, since 2018 we’ve also lost Andy Gill, Ivan Kral, Genesis P-Orridge, Adam Schlesinger, Danny Mihm, Ric Ocasek, Daniel Johnston, Kim Shattuck, Lorna Doom, Mark Hollis, Keith Flint, Ranking Roger, Mark E. Smith, Glenn Branca, Randy Rampage, Hardy Fox, Pete Shelley, Matthew Seligman, Bill Rieflin, Dave Greenfield, Florian Schneider,  Ian Dury, Benjamin Orr, Kirsty McColl and David Roback.

(Top to bottom: Sally Be/Berg, Ranking Roger, Danny Mihm)

Talking about the deaths of talented, gifted creatives is a helluva way to start a column. But here we are. Older performers don’t always get the attention afforded newer, so the rest of this piece shares and celebrates artists from the original New Wave/punk scenes who are still around and active. Many are from the D.C.-area cornucopia I know best, while others have just come to my attention, or seem especially noteworthy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MED9_XK_JVQ

The Zeros’ Javier Escovedo has been steadily emitting tasty Americana-ish rock while occasionally dropping some Zeros sturm-’n’-drang - most recently with Munster Records single “In The Spotlight” and a track on Burger Records’ Quarantunes compilation. Quarantunes is a seven-album affair featuring 140 alternative/punk performers old and new, all of whom wrote songs between March-April 2020. A cursory listen to Volume 2 reveals the recorded version of a good night at a very wild bar, with Zeros still handily kicking ass of all ages.

https://velvetmonkeys.bandcamp.com/album/legacy-of-success?fbclid=IwAR0lJyS0YDE4e3o7LJiITEtw1lhBWMkUX47Vuag1Lf9fs2QozJJKD1lwkes

Velvet Monkeys/B.A.L.L. player and Sonic Youth/Teenage Fanclub producer Don Fleming reports, “We’ve put out new tracks ‘Theories of Rummanetics’ and ‘Legacy of Success.’ Jay has written a few ‘modules’ and Malcolm and I are having fun doing the music,” adding, “I play some electric six string on the new Rob Moss album - it’s fun to be on, with lots of guitar slingers from the DC daze.”

Yup, Rob Moss of Skin-Tight Skin has solicited contributions from Fleming and from Marshall Keith (Slickee Boys), along with a pile of talent including Stuart Casson (Psychotics/Dove/Meatmen), Franz Stahl (Foo Fighters/Scream), Billy Loosigian (Nervous Eaters, the Boom-Boom Band), Nels Cline (Wilco) and Saul Koll (the guy who made guitars for Henry Kaiser and Lee Ranaldo). The set is called We’ve Come Back To Rock ‘n’ Roll.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdIB8a_0Q4c

Chumps/Workdogs/Jam Messengers player Rob Kennedy apparently has too much energy to throw in the towel - he’s kept recording, performing and making various sorts of lo-fi, DIY mischief that never loses that fresh, ‘70s feeling. Jam Messengers released Night And Day on vinyl in 2017. One of my fave Kennedy tracks, “A Low Down Dirty Shame” speaks to this moment as well as any.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-CRBEGVLE4

Former Tiny Desk Unit/Fuji’s Navy/Rhoda & the Bad Seeds members Bob Boilen, Kevin Lay, Michael Barron and Bob Harvey have released a new Danger Painters joint, Thank Speak Love This Record. Lay joked, “I have a voice made for Morse Code” before revealing his recent work with Rhoda and the Bad Seeds material, released June 30 as Live at Nightclub 9:30. Boilen continues to introduce artists both vital and obscure via Tiny Desk Concerts and All Songs Considered/NPR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejQ1GajwfB0

I’ve seen David Arnson play recently and can attest to his proclivity for unfettered growth via Insect Surfers, the instrumental group that originally had some trouble establishing cred. with younger D.C. punks. The Surfers’ most recent release was Living Fossils (2019). Arnson celebrated the band’s 40 years of existence with a European tour in 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SkIuWIZVkM

Jad Fair says, “Half Japanese will have a new album released in November on Fire Records.” Jad’s art was recently featured at the Hiromart Gallery/Tokyo, while David has created a Facebook page where fans can pick up his colorful images for, well, mere bags o’ shells, as far as we can see -  https://www.facebook.com/David-Fair-Painting-107055447700859/

Despite health issues for several members, Bad Brains has collaborated with Element to make BB themed skate wear https://www.elementbrand.com/mens-collection-bad-brains/ and added some killer live tracks to its YouTube channel.  

Former WGTB programmers John Paige and Steve Lorber have been presenting Rock Continuum on WOWD-LP FM 94.3 since 2017.

Mike Stax continues to give excellent motivation for hunting down a pair of Beatle boots - Munster released the Loons’ 7” EP, A Dream In Jade Green, last year. The latest issue of Ugly Things, said by Stax to be heavily focused on the Pretty Things’ Phil May, was reported in early July to be nearing publication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6jSc7gEAv0

Razz (the) Documentary will tell the story of how an uncommonly combustible rock band - especially with the Bill Craig/Abaad Behram line-up - helped spread the Flamin’ Groovies gospel while throwing down oddly compelling originals and taking the two-guitar thing up several notches - the producers are purportedly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Whether anyone can ever recreate the experience of being in an altered state via obsessive, sometimes conversational repetition of certain chords, anchored by Ted Nicely rethinking just what can be done with a bass guitar, given girth by Doug Tull’s intuitive drumming; with Mike Reidy the heat-seeking missile somewhere near the center... well, I doubt it. ‘Cause at this point you’re feeling no pain and it’s not about drinking; there is no room for anything but water - the beer will be knocked over when you’re this busy matching David Arnson’s other-side-of-the-front-line’s leaps into joydum while PCP’d out yahoos from the sticks learn the hard way that hugging Marshall amps can lead to lifelong repercussions. There (in case nothing I want to say about [the] Razz makes it into the film) - I’ve said it.

Discussions among old friends have confirmed that I’m not alone in being happily surprised at this development - we never expected our actions - which led to the hardcore explosion that’s received a lot more attention... would ever make it into any history book. Yet coverage of many of the D.C.-area musicians featured in this piece also comes with Punk The Capitol, A History of D.C. Punk and Hardcore, 1976-1983. Spring 2021 is the projected date for streaming/DVD release.

Ivan Julian came back from a scary 2015 bout with cancer to do a show in New York in 2016. The cancer has returned. Friends have organized a GoFundMe to raise money for surgery and basic needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDB_3by-xkI

The Shakemore fest also refuses to fade, promising “eight hours of streaming steaming video” on August 1. Sounds will be provided by R. Stevie Moore, Velvet Monkeys, Tav Falco’s Panther Burns, Half Japanese, Johnny Spampinato, Weird Paul and the Chumps, among many, many others.

Despite having played at CBGB and other alternative venues in 1979, at the height of the New Wave, Gary Wilson’s work is so distinctive, he’s rarely been included with any musical genre other than the oft-vague “experimental” category. Folks were too unmoored by his visceral performances to get behind him. Wilson’s 14th album, Tormented, was released by Cleopatra in February.

Paul Collins recently published a book that he wrote with Chuck Nolan; I Don’t Fit In: My Wild Ride Through the Punk and Power Pop Trenches with the Nerves and the Beat (Hozac Books).

As “Heath,” Michael Layne Heath, a journalist who contributed to (the) Infiltrator and many other ‘zines, published My Week Beats Your Year: Encounters with Lou Reed in May (Hat & Beard Press).

In April, X released its first album in 35 years; Alphabetland.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ1I-laItPI

As exciting for me as any of the above is Richard Hell with the Heartbreakers’ 2019 release of Yonkers Demo 1976. Hell’s “You Gotta Lose” is one of my picks for best punk/new wave singles of all time. The Heartbreakers version is, predictably, messier than the Robert Quine guitar-spiked classic. Its more excessive charms are growing on me...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48QnsysCN_A

This piece could go on and on - compiling it has been exhausting. The best part has been the response to my social media call for any info I didn’t have re: the D.C.-centric scene I left for New York in 1983. Musicians anxious to keep their compadres’ names alive have hammered that post with 138 comments to date. Urban Verbs percussionist Danny Frankel, who’s played with a colorful spread of artists including Beck, Marianne Faithful, Lou Reed, John Cale and k.d. Lang, made a point of being sure I knew about the passing of Marc Halpern, a source of obvious pain. People were worried I wouldn’t mention John Stabb (Government Issue - 2016), rockabilly player Billy Hancock (2018), Fred “Freak” Smith (Strange Boutique/Beefeater - murdered in Los Angeles, 2017), John Hansen (Slickee Boys - 2010), record store owner/Wasp Records starter/music supporter Bill Asp, Jimmy Barnett of The Killer Bees, and David Byers.

One of the hardest for me to write about is Chris Morse, whose 1984 passing from a drug overdose wrenched so many - I managed to get an obituary into, I think, The New York Rocker (that physical trek was part of a long-ago blur; a very hot day of traipsing over steaming concrete in a narrow-skirted dress to deliver the copy). Chris popped up in my dreams for years - one “visitation” pushed me to write a poem about it in the ‘90s. Morse, who played in Rhoda & The Bad Seeds and worked as a doorman at The Pyramid after moving to NYC in the early ‘80s, was on one of the Urban Verbs’ early flyers. I’m on another.

(Top to bottom: Me in an early Verbs flyer/photo shot at the Atlantis; Chris Morse on another Verbs flyer)

I ended up getting so burnt out on the responsibility of populating this sad roll call, I’ve started a memorial page for them all on Facebook. The nature of truly alternative music is such that many of its lights still fail to fill the pages of major publications. Many of these lights gave a great deal of their lives, if not everything, for the art they believed in. It’s good to remember them, and those heady early days. It’s good to enjoy what we still can.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA3IfK76mmI

[julietookoff]

Elvis, Storage Wars and Pandemics - An Update from Las Vegas

Things are good here.  We pay a little extra for a bigger ex-house trailer lot with room to park the van.  We've got a little shade, too.

We watched the weather impatiently and finally arrived at King's Row in early October.  The plan WAS to head north in the spring.  We were going to a buffet once or twice a week and enjoying the huge selection of fast food restaurants (compared to Las Vegas, NM).  Our favorite buffets are at Sam's Town and the Orleans casinos, where we gamble $5 each and get free lunch buffets.  It didn't take long to find the Pink Box donuts, but they are across town and a little pricey.  We got Cox cable set up at our lot, which we sooo much appreciated during the Wuhan virus months.  While in NM I had gotten hooked on dumpster-diving and storage auction videos on YouTube.  I found out dumpster-diving is illegal in Las Vegas, so we started going to storage auctions.  My best finds were three 925 silver rings, each in a different unit.  And the cash.  I found a $20 bill in a BDU top and tons of spare change.  A neighbor who was moving gave us a 10x10 canopy for shade while sorting.

You get tons of household stuff for just a few bucks.  We can't handle mattresses and big furniture with just the little Jeep.  Although the bulk of stuff goes to GoodWill,  I have made over a thousand dollars on eBay and FB Marketplace.  One week I went to the post office four out of five days.  Some Mondays I go twice a day.  We've sold TVs, game systems, games, a Kindle Oasis, a webcam, sets of high-end clothes and Nike/Jordans, Navy BDUs and uniforms, sets of books, lots of bikes, cell phones, IKEA end tables and lots of misc.  At one unit I paid $35 and another bidder immediately bought two folding tables for $40.  

Some of the more odd finds were a Nissan Leaf charger, some HVAC baffles, digital surveying tools, a 4' long aquarium, a digital darkroom timer, a 1972 signed Munich Olympics print (I still haven't sold this), 7 sets of barn door hardware, horse tack, meth,  morphine, narcan, Rx pills (some the same that we take), tons of driver's licenses, Clark County jail IDs and some giant grow lights.  We bought about 25 units until the Pandemic shut them down.  They ranged in price from $5 to $85.  I plan to continue when we settle down in Florida, where we'll have at least three good flea markets where we can sell stuff (last I checked).  Then whatever is left will go to GoodWill.  We were thinking about getting a cargo trailer here, but the BMV is closed and they won't even answer eMails about out-of-staters getting tags for trailers.

I finally gave up my flip phone for a "Smart" phone.  I use it for as little as possible to avoid swearing like a drunk sailor.

Corny went to four Penn & Teller "Fool Us" tapings at the Rio casino.  They will start to air on June 22.

Our Wuhan Virus Experience:

January 25th we went to the Ethel M chocolate factory in Henderson to redeem a "Tasting" groupon.  We pulled into the lot and there was a tour bus parked out front.  Chinese people, most of them wearing masks, were coming and going.  We were aware of the virus at that time and that it was spreading from China.  One of the masked women asked me to take her picture in the cactus garden - I made a rude face and waved her away.  I wasn't going to touch her germy phone.

I signed up at Planet Fitness February 25.  They closed a couple weeks later.

March 9th we went to the last storage auction before the Stay-at-Home season.

We started loading up on TP and food before it was popular.  Before masks, every time I went to Wally's I loaded up on this n' that.  When the shelves started going bare (around March 15th here), we were all set.  I had three boxes of gloves, two from storage units, and a total of seven N-95 masks.  The first Clark County Wuhan virus death was on March 16th.  I found out why our Wal-Mart is so crazy busy all the time.  While I was sitting in the Jeep waiting for Corny to buy and install a new battery, I watched a continuous parade of bus people filing back and forth from the store to the bus stop.  We started going to a less germy Wally's a bit farther from home.

Corny got a second Shingles vaccine at Sam's Club.  I was off wandering around shopping.  Later when he wasn't feeling well I asked him what his temperature had been at Sam's.  They hadn't taken it!  I couldn't believe it.  It's kinda standard you make sure someone isn't sick before you innoculate them!

We each got our $1200 Wuhan checks on the first round.  I donated mine to Chase Bank.  Corny donated his to CitiBank.

There were no casinos, buffets or auctions during "quarantine".  Other than a little boredom, basically we just took our laziness to a higher level.  We were used to laziness.  I feel for the people with kids - and the poor kids.  Geocaching Headquarters cancelled all events and the big August Geo-gatherings in Seattle and British Columbia.  Corny was sad because he couldn't take the van to see State Parks, museums and such.  He finally made it out west and everything was closed!  He wants to stay here through the summer and take van trips to cooler places, instead of moving the bigass RV up north.  I would like to head home to Florida in the fall and see about buying some land and settling down.  Corny will have to use the van for extended trips out west.

Corny took the top of the engine off the Jeep to change the spark plugs.  Turns out one of the cylinder heads may be bad.  If so, it is a $4000 fix.  Or not fix.  We've gotten used to the check engine light.  

Geocaching-wise, we've been to several local events.  At one we donated about a dozen ready-to-go spray painted/repurposed Sam's Club-sized M&M/cashew containers.  I've taken several big solo Jeep trips to complete the NV Delorme challenge.  I found a nice Challenge Row just north of St. George, UT.  All six of us took a nice little van trip on Route 66 (first picture, above) from Kingman, AZ to Seligman to use up the old gas in the tank.  After spending 1/2 hour wiping down everything in a few germy hotel rooms, I started sleeping in the Jeep every other night.  I have a pizza-shaped pool float that fits perfectly.  I was almost done planning a big UT van trip when the auctions started back up.  

Now when I go on a trip, I have to end 60-70 eBay listings.  If I were willing to pay eBay about $5/month I could do it with one click, but I feel like I give eBay/PayPal way more than enough money already.  Certainly more than they deserve.  They charge auctioneer prices because they can, but in reality all they are is a listing service like Craig's List, FB MarketPlace and Offer Up, which are all free.  We do all the hard work.  FeeBay just sits ontheirass and sucks money.  Do I sound cynical?

I've saved geocaching for last because I've got lots of pix.  Here ya' go.

^St. George, UT

New Harmony, UT

Just inside CA from Pahrump, NV

^Donner Party camp

^Lake Tahoe, CA side

^Pyramid Lake, NV

Salt Flats - lots of motorcycles speeding across here.

^Picked up a handsome Travel Bug

Filthy Jeep

^I left a mud ring in the parking lot of Flying J after it rained

^I did a little boulder jumping

^I had a little talk with this sweet lil’ quail in Gerlach, NV

Life is Godd!  We fit out.

[wttnblog]

The 7 Best Queer Educational Nonfiction Books of All Time

As part of my best of all time series, I’m sharing some nonfiction educational books that I personally loved and benefitted from! Strong disclaimer that this list only includes books I’ve actually read, and is clearly influenced by my own lived experiences and preferences! The plan is to update this annually during pride month to allow for a living, breathing, ever changing document to the best…

[patriotsnet]

How Many Republicans Will Vote For Impeachment

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-will-vote-for-impeachment/

How Many Republicans Will Vote For Impeachment

Republicans Cant Impeach Joe Biden At Least Not Yet

Rep. Schiff: Only Question Is How Many In GOP Will Support Impeachment | Morning Joe | MSNBC

The ongoing chaos in Afghanistan has led many Republicans to, understandably, criticize President Joe Biden. But at the same time, some have decided to go a step further and call for his impeachment.

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene filed three articles of impeachment last week against Mr Biden, while Sen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, his former friend, has called for his impeachment as well.

But if the idea of impeaching Mr Biden sounds ludicrous and politically unfeasible, thats because it is. While Mr Graham, who went from being one of former president Donald Trumps biggest critics to his biggest apologist in the Senate, and Ms Greene, who has done nothing but promote absurd conspiracy theories and antagonize her fellow members, may want to take advantage of the crisis, there is little to no feasible way for it to begin, at least for now.

First and foremost, the major reason is that Republicans are in the minority in the House and the Senate. While some Democrats may not be happy with how Mr Biden managed Afghanistan, immigration or the eviction moratorium, all of which Ms Greene cited, they arent going to collaborate with Republicans to impeach him.

The remote chance of this passing the House aside, if it makes it to the Senate, Republicans would again have to contend with the fact they are in the minority and two-thirds of all Senators need to vote for a conviction. In the last impeachment earlier this year, only seven Republican Senators broke rank.

Read More

Pelosi On Impeachment Votes: ‘we Are Not Whipping This Legislation’

Rep. Anthony Brindisi, another Democrat from a red district in upstate New York, said hes not feeling pressure from Democratic leadership but is hearing from constituents.

The phone is ringing off the hook both people calling pro-impeachment and people calling against impeachment, he told NBC News. And so, we take all of that into consideration and I’m going to take some time this weekend and go back and look at all these transcripts and make sure all the evidence fits the articles of impeachment.

Two critical swing district Democrats have announced their support for impeachment articles. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., told reporters Thursday that she is going to support both articles of impeachment regardless of the lasting political impacts.

I think it’s equally important today as it will be six months from now to say that I stood up against the President when he did something wrong, Luria said.

And Rep. Conor Lamb , D-Pa., told Pittsburgh affiliate WTAE that hell also vote for the articles.

For Democrats in districts Trump carried in 2016, the decision is fraught with political peril for next November’s elections, especially because the president’s supporters remain mostly united behind him.

A small group of moderate Democrats floated a last-minute proposal of censure instead of impeachment but abandoned the idea when it quickly became clear that such a move would not garner support among the broader Democratic caucus, according to an aide for one of those members.

Republicans Join Democrats In Vote To Push Trump Impeachment Trial Forward

WASHINGTON – Most Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday against holding an impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump on whether he incited insurrection in the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, signaling that he likely has enough votes to secure an acquittal.

The vote was 55-45 in favor of proceeding with a trial, but only five Republicans joined all 50 Democrats. A two-thirds vote is required for conviction, which would require 17 Republicans to turn against Trump, assuming the Democrats vote as a bloc after hearing the case against him when the trial starts in earnest February 9.

A Trump supporter, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, forced the vote on whether to proceed with the trial, calling it an unconstitutional sham.

Paul contended that the Senate cannot hold a trial of a private citizen, which Trump now is after his term ended last Wednesday and Democrat Joe Biden was inaugurated as the countrys 46th president. The Senate, in fact, has held trials for private citizens in the past.

All 100 senators were sworn in as jurors for the upcoming trial.

The Republican lawmakers hold Trumps fate in their hands, even though the former presidents four-year term in the White House ended January 20 with Bidens inauguration.

Also Check: How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach

Numerous Gop Primary Challengers Could Split Anti

As they prepare to face primary challengers, the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 raised significantly more money during the first quarter of 2021 than they did two years earlier.

The group, leveraging the power of incumbency, also swamped their GOP primary opponents in almost every instance during the first round of fundraising since angering Mr. Trump with their votes, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

While all the incumbents outraised challengers who filed campaign finance reports, it is still early in the two-year election cycle and money is just one factor in typically low-turnout primaries.

Mr. Trumps political-action committees could also weigh in financially on some of the contests, and his endorsements could carry significant weight with the partys base. The PACs arent required to report their latest totals until July, but one of them, Save America PAC, started the year with $31 million in the bank and has continued to raise money since then.

In a speech earlier this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he called out all 10 by name, Mr. Trump told his supporters to get rid of them all in next years elections.

House Impeachment Managers Request Trump To Testify Under Oath Next Week

Democrats requested that Trump testify in person, an offer his attorneys declined. Inside his orbit, there has been disagreement about whether to repeat his groundless claims that the election was stolen or whether to push the procedural argument that appeals to GOP senators.

His attorneys, David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr., have indicated that they will do the latter, saying in their brief that the impeachment is “unconstitutional, and must be dismissed with prejudice.”

Don’t Miss: Did Any Republicans Vote To Impeach Trump

Republicans Who Voted To Acquit Trump Used Questions Of Constitutionality As A Cover

Following the vote, McConnell gave a scathing speech condemning Trumps lies about election fraud as well as his actions on January 6, only moments after he supported acquittal.

That speech was emblematic of how many Republican senators approached the impeachment vote: Although GOP lawmakers were critical of the attack on January 6, they used a process argument about constitutionality in order to evade confronting Trump on his actual actions.

Effectively, because Trump is no longer in office, Republicans say the Senate doesnt have jurisdiction to convict him of the article of impeachment. As Voxs Ian Millhiser explained, theres some debate over that, but most legal scholars maintain that it is constitutional for the Senate to try a former president.

If President Trump were still in office, I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge, McConnell said. McConnell, however, played an integral role in delaying the start of the trial until after Trump was no longer president.

His statement on Saturday was simply a continuation of how Republicans had previously approached Trumps presidency: Theres been an overwhelming hesitation to hold him accountable while he was in office, and that still appears to be the case for many lawmakers.

Articles Referred To Senate

Article I, charging Clinton with perjury, alleged in part that:

On August 17, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before a federal grand jury of the United States. Contrary to that oath, William Jefferson Clinton willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony to the grand jury concerning one or more of the following:

the nature and details of his relationship with a subordinate government employee;

prior perjurious, false and misleading testimony he gave in a federal civil rights action brought against him;

prior false and misleading statements he allowed his attorney to make to a federal judge in that civil rights action; and

his corrupt efforts to influence the testimony of witnesses and to impede the discovery of evidence in that civil rights action.

Article II, charging Clinton with obstruction of justice alleged in part that:

Clinton was defended by Cheryl Mills. Clinton’s counsel staff included Charles Ruff, David E. Kendall, Dale Bumpers, Bruce Lindsey, Nicole Seligman, Lanny A. Breuer and Gregory B. Craig.

Don’t Miss: What Are The Basic Differences Between Democrats And Republicans

Michigan Rep Fred Upton

Upton, an 18-term lawmaker who previously held the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Committee, is something of an endangered species on Capitol Hill: a relatively moderate Republican who isnt afraid to cross the aisle to vote with Democrats. Fellow lawmakers and outsiders who lobby Upton say hes a pragmatist. Hes part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group working to build consensus on legislation.

The former committee chairmans 6th District, nestled in the states touristy southwestern corner that includes Lake Michigan shoreline as well as Kalamazoo, voted 51 percent for Trump in 2020, according to Daily Kos Elections. Upton won reelection with 56 percent of the vote last year. Since 2017, the longtime congressman voted in line with Trumps position on legislation 78 percent of the time, according to CQ Vote Watch.

Bringing Trauma Back To Life

10 Republicans Cross Party Lines To Vote For Trump’s Second Impeachment

The terrifying invasion of the Capitol was illuminated through never before heard audio of police screaming that a riot had broken out, fresh security video of the armed, violent insurrectionists pouring in and then-Vice President Mike Pence and others fleeing, and parallel maps showing just how close Trump’s minions came to capturing and injuring or killing Pence, Sen. Mitt Romney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The managers finished by hammering home the ex-president’s response once the rioting began: protracted inaction, repetition of the election lies that led to the violence,;and telling the insurrectionists he loved them. ; ; ; ; ; ;

The managers poured a surprising degree of emotion into their arguments. Whether it was Rep. Madeleine Dean choking up as she recalled her terror, or Rep. Eric Swalwell reading what he thought might be his farewell text to his family, it hit home.;Most powerful of all was lead manager Rep. Jamie Raskin’s closing;Tuesday. He brought the trauma back to life for the jurors, who were also present on that horrible day, in recounting;his and his family’s experiences.;His genuine tears flowed for them ;and for all;the tragedies that unfolded Jan. 6.

You May Like: What Cities Are Run By Republicans

Why Is Trump On Trial

Trumps second impeachment stems from his involvement in whipping up a mob on 6 January that went on to assault the Capitol building while a joint session of Congress was convened to certify Joe Bidenâs Electoral College win. The invasion of the Capitol led to five deaths and the temporary suspension of the vote certification until the assailants could be removed. The House voted to impeach him for a second time a week after the events and just a little over a week from him leaving office.

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney says his impeachment vote will be âbased upon the facts and the evidence as is presented.âRomney also says he believes âthat what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. If not? what is?â

Illinois Rep Adam Kinzinger

Kinzinger, first elected to Congress in 2010 when voters swept House Republicans into power, has relied on his military background in crafting his legislative priorities, especially on foreign policy. The veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan serves on the House Foreign Affairs panel, as well as Energy and Commerce. Kinzinger initially defended Trumps foreign policy and national security posture, but by 2018 he had become a critic of the commander in chief.;

He voted in line with the president on legislation 90 percent of the time during the Trump years, according to CQ Vote Watch. Kinzinger voted with Trump 85 percent of the time in 2019. Trump carried Kinzingers 16th District, which stretches from Illinois Wisconsin border north of Rockford to its line with Indiana, in 2020. Trump got 57 percent of the vote in the district, according to Daily Kos Elections, while Kinzinger got 65 percent.

He immediately condemned Trump in a video statement on Jan. 6. The storming of the Capitol was a coup attempt, with the purpose of overturning the election of a duly elected president, he said. The current president incited this coup, encouraged it, and did little to protect the Capitol and the Constitution.

Also Check: How Many Democratic Presidents Have Republicans Tried To Impeach

How The Impeachment Vote Could Benefit Trump Gop

Final votes on the articles are expected in the full House next week after they were passed in a party-line vote by the House Judiciary Committee Friday morning.

Slotkin said shes been lobbied by Republicans on the House floor.

I had a Republican colleague who Ive worked with before on a bunch of issues come up and give me a very detailed, thoughtful explanation of why I should vote against articles of impeachment, Slotkin told NBC News last week.

And the across-the-aisle personal lobbying in the Capitol is being reinforced with an aggressive, multi-million dollar political effort in their home districts.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

For example, the American Action Network, an outside political group that works to elect Republicans to the House, has spent more than $1.5 million on campaign ads focused on impeachment since December 10 in those districts as well as the districts represented by Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Susie Lee of Nevada and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico. Those ads are slated to run through the votes in the full House of Representatives next week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said impeachment is a vote of conscience and maintains that Democrats aren’t pressuring their members on which way to vote.

“We are not whipping this legislation,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday. “People have to come to their own conclusions.”

Donald Trump: Impeached In 2019 And 2021

On October 9, 2019 in Washington, D.C., President Trump answers questions on a pending impeachment inquiry.

On September 24, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump regarding his alleged efforts to pressure the President of Ukraine to investigate possible wrongdoings by his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

The decision to authorize the impeachment inquiry came after a leaked whistleblower complaint detailed a July phone conversation between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump allegedly tied Ukrainian military aid to personal political favors. The White House later released a reconstructed of the phone call, which many Democrats argued demonstrated that Trump had violated the Constitution.

On December 18, 2019, President Trump became the third U.S. president in history to be impeached as the House of Representatives voted nearly along party lines to impeach him over abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. No Republicans voted in favor of either article of impeachment, while three Democrats voted against one or both.On February 5, 2020, the Senate largely along party lines to acquit Trump on both charges.

Read Also: Are There More Republicans Or Democrats In The House

What To Watch For

While Trumps impeachment in the House is a foregone conclusion, conviction in the Senate is a far murkier question. A handful of senators have advocated Trumps resignation or removal without explicitly voicing support for impeachment, but Democrats may struggle to muster the 17 GOP votes needed to get the necessary two-thirds majority. Additionally, McConnell has signaled a Senate impeachment trial likely wouldnt occur until after Trump has left office.

How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict Donald Trump

Reddit

Now that Donald Trump has been impeached for an historic second time, attention turns to the Senate where, according to the Constitution, a trial will begin. The big question isunlike last year when only one Republican Senator voted to convict Trump on charges resulting from his phone call with the President of Ukrainewill there be 17 Republican senators willing to vote to convict Trump?

Lets start with what we know. Senator Ben Sasse is the only senator who has said clearly that he is open to convicting Trump. Senator Mitt Romney voted to convict last year when Trump was impeached over his phone call with the Ukrainian president. The charges in this impeachment are equally if not more serious, so it seems likely that he too may vote to convict. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Patrick Toomey have also made statements signaling that theyve had enough of Trump. Murkowski just wants him out, saying He has caused enough damage, and Toomey thinks he committed impeachable offenses but is unsure whether impeachment makes sense this close to the end of the Trump presidency.

Also Check: Do Republicans Want To Cut Social Security And Medicare

Trump Impeachment Odds: How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict

The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins today, February 9, 2021. Accused of incitement of insurrection, the 100 senators will hear arguments from Democratic House Managers and a Republican Congessional defense, with a brand new team of lawyers to defend Trump. How many senators will vote to convict?

The trial itself is interesting in a way, because nearly everyone involved would have been in the Capitol when insurrectionists stormed the building on January 6; the crime that led to this impeachment. So the senators being asked to pass judgement are victims of the crime. But the popular debate has not so much been around whether Trump is guilty, but rather whether America should heal and move on.

To convince Republicans, Democrats are expected to show plenty of video evidence, reminding the senate of what it felt like on that tumultuous day. Trumps defense is expected to argue that, with Trump already out of office, the impeachment is unconstitutional. However, its been rumored that Trump fired his first legal team for refusing to push the 2020 election hoax angle he preferred.

In Trumps first impeachment trial, Utah Senator Mitt Romney was the sole Republican to vote to convict, and hes likely to do the same again, making the 50 or fewer betting option such a long shot. But who will join him?

How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict Donald Trump On Incitement By Apr. 29?

50 Or Fewer+1600

[statetalks]

How Many Republicans Will Vote For Impeachment

Republicans Cant Impeach Joe Biden At Least Not Yet

Rep. Schiff: Only Question Is How Many In GOP Will Support Impeachment | Morning Joe | MSNBC

The ongoing chaos in Afghanistan has led many Republicans to, understandably, criticize President Joe Biden. But at the same time, some have decided to go a step further and call for his impeachment.

Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene filed three articles of impeachment last week against Mr Biden, while Sen Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, his former friend, has called for his impeachment as well.

But if the idea of impeaching Mr Biden sounds ludicrous and politically unfeasible, thats because it is. While Mr Graham, who went from being one of former president Donald Trumps biggest critics to his biggest apologist in the Senate, and Ms Greene, who has done nothing but promote absurd conspiracy theories and antagonize her fellow members, may want to take advantage of the crisis, there is little to no feasible way for it to begin, at least for now.

First and foremost, the major reason is that Republicans are in the minority in the House and the Senate. While some Democrats may not be happy with how Mr Biden managed Afghanistan, immigration or the eviction moratorium, all of which Ms Greene cited, they arent going to collaborate with Republicans to impeach him.

The remote chance of this passing the House aside, if it makes it to the Senate, Republicans would again have to contend with the fact they are in the minority and two-thirds of all Senators need to vote for a conviction. In the last impeachment earlier this year, only seven Republican Senators broke rank.

Read More

Pelosi On Impeachment Votes: ‘we Are Not Whipping This Legislation’

Rep. Anthony Brindisi, another Democrat from a red district in upstate New York, said hes not feeling pressure from Democratic leadership but is hearing from constituents.

The phone is ringing off the hook both people calling pro-impeachment and people calling against impeachment, he told NBC News. And so, we take all of that into consideration and I’m going to take some time this weekend and go back and look at all these transcripts and make sure all the evidence fits the articles of impeachment.

Two critical swing district Democrats have announced their support for impeachment articles. Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., told reporters Thursday that she is going to support both articles of impeachment regardless of the lasting political impacts.

I think it’s equally important today as it will be six months from now to say that I stood up against the President when he did something wrong, Luria said.

And Rep. Conor Lamb , D-Pa., told Pittsburgh affiliate WTAE that hell also vote for the articles.

For Democrats in districts Trump carried in 2016, the decision is fraught with political peril for next November’s elections, especially because the president’s supporters remain mostly united behind him.

A small group of moderate Democrats floated a last-minute proposal of censure instead of impeachment but abandoned the idea when it quickly became clear that such a move would not garner support among the broader Democratic caucus, according to an aide for one of those members.

Republicans Join Democrats In Vote To Push Trump Impeachment Trial Forward

WASHINGTON – Most Republicans in the U.S. Senate voted Tuesday against holding an impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump on whether he incited insurrection in the January 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, signaling that he likely has enough votes to secure an acquittal.

The vote was 55-45 in favor of proceeding with a trial, but only five Republicans joined all 50 Democrats. A two-thirds vote is required for conviction, which would require 17 Republicans to turn against Trump, assuming the Democrats vote as a bloc after hearing the case against him when the trial starts in earnest February 9.

A Trump supporter, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, forced the vote on whether to proceed with the trial, calling it an unconstitutional sham.

Paul contended that the Senate cannot hold a trial of a private citizen, which Trump now is after his term ended last Wednesday and Democrat Joe Biden was inaugurated as the countrys 46th president. The Senate, in fact, has held trials for private citizens in the past.

All 100 senators were sworn in as jurors for the upcoming trial.

The Republican lawmakers hold Trumps fate in their hands, even though the former presidents four-year term in the White House ended January 20 with Bidens inauguration.

Also Check: How Many Republicans Voted To Impeach

Numerous Gop Primary Challengers Could Split Anti

As they prepare to face primary challengers, the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump after his supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 raised significantly more money during the first quarter of 2021 than they did two years earlier.

The group, leveraging the power of incumbency, also swamped their GOP primary opponents in almost every instance during the first round of fundraising since angering Mr. Trump with their votes, new Federal Election Commission filings show.

While all the incumbents outraised challengers who filed campaign finance reports, it is still early in the two-year election cycle and money is just one factor in typically low-turnout primaries.

Mr. Trumps political-action committees could also weigh in financially on some of the contests, and his endorsements could carry significant weight with the partys base. The PACs arent required to report their latest totals until July, but one of them, Save America PAC, started the year with $31 million in the bank and has continued to raise money since then.

In a speech earlier this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he called out all 10 by name, Mr. Trump told his supporters to get rid of them all in next years elections.

House Impeachment Managers Request Trump To Testify Under Oath Next Week

Democrats requested that Trump testify in person, an offer his attorneys declined. Inside his orbit, there has been disagreement about whether to repeat his groundless claims that the election was stolen or whether to push the procedural argument that appeals to GOP senators.

His attorneys, David Schoen and Bruce Castor Jr., have indicated that they will do the latter, saying in their brief that the impeachment is “unconstitutional, and must be dismissed with prejudice.”

Don’t Miss: Did Any Republicans Vote To Impeach Trump

Republicans Who Voted To Acquit Trump Used Questions Of Constitutionality As A Cover

Following the vote, McConnell gave a scathing speech condemning Trumps lies about election fraud as well as his actions on January 6, only moments after he supported acquittal.

That speech was emblematic of how many Republican senators approached the impeachment vote: Although GOP lawmakers were critical of the attack on January 6, they used a process argument about constitutionality in order to evade confronting Trump on his actual actions.

Effectively, because Trump is no longer in office, Republicans say the Senate doesnt have jurisdiction to convict him of the article of impeachment. As Voxs Ian Millhiser explained, theres some debate over that, but most legal scholars maintain that it is constitutional for the Senate to try a former president.

If President Trump were still in office, I would have carefully considered whether the House managers proved their specific charge, McConnell said. McConnell, however, played an integral role in delaying the start of the trial until after Trump was no longer president.

His statement on Saturday was simply a continuation of how Republicans had previously approached Trumps presidency: Theres been an overwhelming hesitation to hold him accountable while he was in office, and that still appears to be the case for many lawmakers.

Articles Referred To Senate

Article I, charging Clinton with perjury, alleged in part that:

On August 17, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before a federal grand jury of the United States. Contrary to that oath, William Jefferson Clinton willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony to the grand jury concerning one or more of the following:

the nature and details of his relationship with a subordinate government employee; prior perjurious, false and misleading testimony he gave in a federal civil rights action brought against him; prior false and misleading statements he allowed his attorney to make to a federal judge in that civil rights action; and his corrupt efforts to influence the testimony of witnesses and to impede the discovery of evidence in that civil rights action.

Article II, charging Clinton with obstruction of justice alleged in part that:

Clinton was defended by Cheryl Mills. Clinton’s counsel staff included Charles Ruff, David E. Kendall, Dale Bumpers, Bruce Lindsey, Nicole Seligman, Lanny A. Breuer and Gregory B. Craig.

Don’t Miss: What Are The Basic Differences Between Democrats And Republicans

Michigan Rep Fred Upton

Upton, an 18-term lawmaker who previously held the gavel of the Energy and Commerce Committee, is something of an endangered species on Capitol Hill: a relatively moderate Republican who isnt afraid to cross the aisle to vote with Democrats. Fellow lawmakers and outsiders who lobby Upton say hes a pragmatist. Hes part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group working to build consensus on legislation.

The former committee chairmans 6th District, nestled in the states touristy southwestern corner that includes Lake Michigan shoreline as well as Kalamazoo, voted 51 percent for Trump in 2020, according to Daily Kos Elections. Upton won reelection with 56 percent of the vote last year. Since 2017, the longtime congressman voted in line with Trumps position on legislation 78 percent of the time, according to CQ Vote Watch.

Bringing Trauma Back To Life

10 Republicans Cross Party Lines To Vote For Trump’s Second Impeachment

The terrifying invasion of the Capitol was illuminated through never before heard audio of police screaming that a riot had broken out, fresh security video of the armed, violent insurrectionists pouring in and then-Vice President Mike Pence and others fleeing, and parallel maps showing just how close Trump’s minions came to capturing and injuring or killing Pence, Sen. Mitt Romney and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The managers finished by hammering home the ex-president’s response once the rioting began: protracted inaction, repetition of the election lies that led to the violence,;and telling the insurrectionists he loved them. ; ; ; ; ; ;

The managers poured a surprising degree of emotion into their arguments. Whether it was Rep. Madeleine Dean choking up as she recalled her terror, or Rep. Eric Swalwell reading what he thought might be his farewell text to his family, it hit home.;Most powerful of all was lead manager Rep. Jamie Raskin’s closing;Tuesday. He brought the trauma back to life for the jurors, who were also present on that horrible day, in recounting;his and his family’s experiences.;His genuine tears flowed for them ;and for all;the tragedies that unfolded Jan. 6.

You May Like: What Cities Are Run By Republicans

Why Is Trump On Trial

Trumps second impeachment stems from his involvement in whipping up a mob on 6 January that went on to assault the Capitol building while a joint session of Congress was convened to certify Joe Bidenâs Electoral College win. The invasion of the Capitol led to five deaths and the temporary suspension of the vote certification until the assailants could be removed. The House voted to impeach him for a second time a week after the events and just a little over a week from him leaving office.

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney says his impeachment vote will be âbased upon the facts and the evidence as is presented.âRomney also says he believes âthat what is being alleged and what we saw, which is incitement to insurrection, is an impeachable offense. If not? what is?â

Illinois Rep Adam Kinzinger

Kinzinger, first elected to Congress in 2010 when voters swept House Republicans into power, has relied on his military background in crafting his legislative priorities, especially on foreign policy. The veteran of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan serves on the House Foreign Affairs panel, as well as Energy and Commerce. Kinzinger initially defended Trumps foreign policy and national security posture, but by 2018 he had become a critic of the commander in chief.;

He voted in line with the president on legislation 90 percent of the time during the Trump years, according to CQ Vote Watch. Kinzinger voted with Trump 85 percent of the time in 2019. Trump carried Kinzingers 16th District, which stretches from Illinois Wisconsin border north of Rockford to its line with Indiana, in 2020. Trump got 57 percent of the vote in the district, according to Daily Kos Elections, while Kinzinger got 65 percent.

He immediately condemned Trump in a video statement on Jan. 6. The storming of the Capitol was a coup attempt, with the purpose of overturning the election of a duly elected president, he said. The current president incited this coup, encouraged it, and did little to protect the Capitol and the Constitution.

Also Check: How Many Democratic Presidents Have Republicans Tried To Impeach

How The Impeachment Vote Could Benefit Trump Gop

Final votes on the articles are expected in the full House next week after they were passed in a party-line vote by the House Judiciary Committee Friday morning.

Slotkin said shes been lobbied by Republicans on the House floor.

I had a Republican colleague who Ive worked with before on a bunch of issues come up and give me a very detailed, thoughtful explanation of why I should vote against articles of impeachment, Slotkin told NBC News last week.

And the across-the-aisle personal lobbying in the Capitol is being reinforced with an aggressive, multi-million dollar political effort in their home districts.

Download the NBC News app for breaking news and politics

For example, the American Action Network, an outside political group that works to elect Republicans to the House, has spent more than $1.5 million on campaign ads focused on impeachment since December 10 in those districts as well as the districts represented by Reps. Jared Golden of Maine, Susie Lee of Nevada and Xochitl Torres Small of New Mexico. Those ads are slated to run through the votes in the full House of Representatives next week.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said impeachment is a vote of conscience and maintains that Democrats aren’t pressuring their members on which way to vote.

“We are not whipping this legislation,” Pelosi told reporters on Thursday. “People have to come to their own conclusions.”

Donald Trump: Impeached In 2019 And 2021

On October 9, 2019 in Washington, D.C., President Trump answers questions on a pending impeachment inquiry.

On September 24, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump regarding his alleged efforts to pressure the President of Ukraine to investigate possible wrongdoings by his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

The decision to authorize the impeachment inquiry came after a leaked whistleblower complaint detailed a July phone conversation between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky in which Trump allegedly tied Ukrainian military aid to personal political favors. The White House later released a reconstructed of the phone call, which many Democrats argued demonstrated that Trump had violated the Constitution.

On December 18, 2019, President Trump became the third U.S. president in history to be impeached as the House of Representatives voted nearly along party lines to impeach him over abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. No Republicans voted in favor of either article of impeachment, while three Democrats voted against one or both.On February 5, 2020, the Senate largely along party lines to acquit Trump on both charges.

Read Also: Are There More Republicans Or Democrats In The House

What To Watch For

While Trumps impeachment in the House is a foregone conclusion, conviction in the Senate is a far murkier question. A handful of senators have advocated Trumps resignation or removal without explicitly voicing support for impeachment, but Democrats may struggle to muster the 17 GOP votes needed to get the necessary two-thirds majority. Additionally, McConnell has signaled a Senate impeachment trial likely wouldnt occur until after Trump has left office.

How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict Donald Trump

Reddit

Now that Donald Trump has been impeached for an historic second time, attention turns to the Senate where, according to the Constitution, a trial will begin. The big question isunlike last year when only one Republican Senator voted to convict Trump on charges resulting from his phone call with the President of Ukrainewill there be 17 Republican senators willing to vote to convict Trump?

Lets start with what we know. Senator Ben Sasse is the only senator who has said clearly that he is open to convicting Trump. Senator Mitt Romney voted to convict last year when Trump was impeached over his phone call with the Ukrainian president. The charges in this impeachment are equally if not more serious, so it seems likely that he too may vote to convict. Senator Lisa Murkowski and Senator Patrick Toomey have also made statements signaling that theyve had enough of Trump. Murkowski just wants him out, saying He has caused enough damage, and Toomey thinks he committed impeachable offenses but is unsure whether impeachment makes sense this close to the end of the Trump presidency.

Also Check: Do Republicans Want To Cut Social Security And Medicare

Trump Impeachment Odds: How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict

The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump begins today, February 9, 2021. Accused of incitement of insurrection, the 100 senators will hear arguments from Democratic House Managers and a Republican Congessional defense, with a brand new team of lawyers to defend Trump. How many senators will vote to convict?

The trial itself is interesting in a way, because nearly everyone involved would have been in the Capitol when insurrectionists stormed the building on January 6; the crime that led to this impeachment. So the senators being asked to pass judgement are victims of the crime. But the popular debate has not so much been around whether Trump is guilty, but rather whether America should heal and move on.

To convince Republicans, Democrats are expected to show plenty of video evidence, reminding the senate of what it felt like on that tumultuous day. Trumps defense is expected to argue that, with Trump already out of office, the impeachment is unconstitutional. However, its been rumored that Trump fired his first legal team for refusing to push the 2020 election hoax angle he preferred.

In Trumps first impeachment trial, Utah Senator Mitt Romney was the sole Republican to vote to convict, and hes likely to do the same again, making the 50 or fewer betting option such a long shot. But who will join him?

How Many Senators Will Vote To Convict Donald Trump On Incitement By Apr. 29?

50 Or Fewer+1600

source https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-many-republicans-will-vote-for-impeachment/

[anthonycalascione]

Road rallies introduce us to new places, and to new faces

(Editor’s note: During the month of April, the Journal presents a series of stories about vintage rallies and vintage racing. Today, Larry Edsall writes about his participation in several rallies, events ranging from a $40 entry fee to those charging thousands of dollars. If you have a story about your participation in a vintage rally or race that you’d like to share, please email us at journal@classiccars.com.)

Historic U.S. 66 shields dot the pavement

It cost only $40 to participate in the Route 66 Motor Tour, at least that was the registration fee. You also had to pay for your meals and lodging along the remaining segments of the historic Mother Road which ran all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles.

Living in Phoenix at the time, and busy with work and other responsibilities, I just did the section of the tour across northwestern Arizona. I met up with the group at its early morning driver’s meeting in Williams, Arizona, paid my $40 fee, got my T-shirt and window sticker, listened as tour director Craig Parrish briefed us and handed out copies of the route plan for the day, and off we went.

I’d met Parrish during one of my summer visits to Michigan, where for a decade or so he had been organizing the annual driving tour up Old US 27 from Coldwater to Cheboygan. Parrish noted that US 27 was “the other Route 66, the north-south version” that ran through Michigan and on down to Miami. 

He also had done several drives on Route 66 and finally, in the fall of 2014, felt he was ready to lead a group on such a tour. By scheduling the event in the fall, he not only was able to get off-season rates at motels along the way, but avoided the triple-digit summer temperatures in the Southwest desert.

Here is one anecdote that, I think, speaks volumes about the folks who participate in such events: One of the US 27-tour regulars was Jan Miller, who had done the Michigan drive in a 1947 Oldsmobile convertible with her late husband and now was doing the Route 66 event on her own. 

But to make sure her trip went well, a group of other Route 27 veterans stayed close to her Olds all the way to California should she encounter any problems. 

Wave if you’re having a good time on the tour

Classic Olds at Addicted to Route 66, Williams

Seligman

Another rally, another example: While it cost only $40 to take part in that Route 66 event, it costs several thousands of dollars to enter a car in the annual Copperstate 1000 vintage sports car rally, a fund-raiser for the Phoenix Art Museum that also supports families of injured or fallen Arizona Highway Patrol officers. I tagged along on the event several times, covering it for ClassicCars.com. 

One daym one of the older British sports cars had a mechanical issue that forced it onto the shoulder of a desert highway. Almost immediately, three or four other British cars from the same era had arrived and pulled over with their drivers diving into trunks and offering whatever parts that might be needed to get the ailing car back on the road. Maybe half an hour later, all the cars returned to the rally route.

The rally routes and what you see along the way is a big part of such events, but so are the relationships that emerge as the troupe makes its way across the landscape. People who met on such events often develop friendships that last a lifetime. I did all or parts of the Copperstate often enough during my years in Phoenix that I still count several of those I met as friends.

ELK Charity Challenge ready to roll from the Fess Parker Doubletree in Resort in 2015

A classic encounter along the route

City by the Bay — and in the fog

While I was mainly a journalist covering the Copperstate, I was very much a participant on the ELK Charity Challenge drives in 2015 and 2016. 

ELK is short for Everyone Loves Kids, and was founded by Craig Corbell, a Texan who had done several high-speed driving events but realized there were folks who desired a slower pace and a way to raise money for children’s charities. 

The inaugural event was staged in California with a route from Santa Barbara to the San Francisco Bay. Supposedly to make the event more attractive for those paying the 4-figure entry fee, Corbell invited several celebrities to go along. There were actors and rodeo champions, plus one much lesser celebrity, me.

Spending a full week on the road with a bunch of people who are having a good time and who enjoy raising money for charity and afterward while you go your separate ways, you also go with new friends you’re eager to see again.

ELK Charity Challenge visits the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016

Soap Box Derby hill

Lake Placid Olympic venue

I know, because in 2016 I paid my way into the second ELK Charity Challenge rally, which in that second year started in Detroit and ended at Lake Placid, New York. 

By the way, you don’t necessarily have to own a vintage or exotic vehicle to participate in such events. Some people bring a car from home, others rent something fun when they arrive. For the second ELK event, I was able to borrow a spanking new Chevrolet Camaro convertible from General Motors, which was willing to do so because I’d just written a book about the car’s design and development, and because of the charitable nature of the event.

And what an event! We got to race grownup-sized vehicles down the official Soap Box Derby championship hill, got a private tour of the Corning Glass Museum, got to slide down the pole in a firefighting museum, drove hot laps around a race track and drag-raced on a closed airport runway, and we participated in some hugely embarrassing escapades as part of the daily contest to see which charity would get that’s days donation.  

Two of our stops were emotional events for me. One was a visit to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Erie, Pennsylvania. I had received in-hospital and out-patient care at the Shriners facility near Chicago from the time I was 2 until I was 18 and can walk today because of the treatment I received back then. 

The other emotional stop was our final one, at Lake Placid, where I’d covered the 1980 Olympic Winter Games as a newspaper sports writer and where I trekked up Whiteface Mountain to watch downhill skiers slide past and where I covered speedskating and figure skating and biathlon and cross-country and bobsled and lots of ice hockey and where I sat in press row in disbelief as a bunch of American college kids beat the daunted Soviet hockey team.

Cars are cars and, quite literally, they come and go, but it’s the memories and the friendships they enable that we carry with us throughout a lifetime.

The post Road rallies introduce us to new places, and to new faces appeared first on ClassicCars.com Journal.

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[tinyhousecalling]

864 Sq Ft Charming Home on 30 Acres in Northern Arizona $229,000

864 Sq Ft Charming Home on 30 Acres in Northern Arizona $229,000

Charming 864 livable sq ft small house on 30 acres. All year access. 33620 W Craig Rd, Seligman, AZ, 86337 $229,000 2 bed 1 bath 864 sq ft 29.73 acre lot Build date 2011 Google Map Property Listing Realtor: Magda Hintereder Related: 600 Sq Ft Cozy Home on 13.31 Acre Lot w/ Incredible Mountain Views in Crown King AZ About This 864 Sq Ft Charming Home on 30 Acres in Northern Arizona Charming 864…

[newssplashy]

Opinion: Dusting off an art deco feminist treasure

NEW YORK — On a recent spring evening, two young women, Amore Pistorius, 27, and Garima Deopura, 28, took the elevator to the 26th floor of Beekman Tower, an Art Deco landmark building from 1928 a few blocks north of the United Nations.

When the doors opened, the women, both accountants at a private equity firm around the corner, were greeted by three double-height windows with delicate ironwork, a 24-foot pewter-cast bar with a glass inset holding curiosities from another era, and a mounted albino pheasant with its wings spread over a curated collection of spirits.

They were led to the terrace, with its 360-degree views of Manhattan, and took a seat on a red velvet-covered bench.

Both ordered the Bullet Proof, a photogenic play on a whiskey sour featuring rye, St. Germain, turmeric, lemon, chili and bitters with a foamy egg white that Pistorius had seen on Instagram. The two chatted about their families, dating, work gossip and what it’s like to live in New York — Pistorius is from South Africa, and Deopura moved to Manhattan in 2016 from California.

Whether they knew or it not, these women were continuing a legacy from 1928, when the Beekman Tower, then called the Panhellenic Tower, opened as a women’s clubhouse, dormitory and social hub for sorority sisters who had recently graduated and were moving to New York in record numbers to join the workforce.

In the years leading up to the Depression, it was increasingly common for women to have a gap between college and marriage, with many of them moving to the city for work, said Joanna Scutts, the author of “The Extra Woman: How Marjorie Hillis Led a Generation of Women to Live Alone and Like It.”

The rooftop bar was originally a solarium, which provided a common space for the building’s female residents to relax — and to receive “men callers,” according to a brochure of the time.

The ability to “bask” under glass year round was advertised as part of the building’s commitment to its residents’ health, Scutts said. “The rooms would’ve been tiny, very simple dorm rooms, but you would come up here and you could read and hang out with your friends in this beautiful space.”

The Great Depression changed everything. The Panhellenic was forced to accept non-sorority women in 1931 and then men as well in 1934, when it was rebranded as Beekman Tower.

In 1940, the solarium was converted into a bar called Top of the Tower, which over the years would become a favorite haunt of employees of the United Nations and celebrities like Frank Sinatra and Pearl Bailey.

In 1964, the Panhellenic House Association sold the building, and the new owners converted the dorm rooms into apartments for a residential hotel. Top of the Tower remained open to the public — it was best known among locals in the know as a once-grand, now-dusty and dated spot with so-so drinks and gorgeous views — until it closed in 2013.

Five years later, Merchants Hospitality Inc., which now owns the rooftop bar, has updated the space by simultaneously getting rid of a certain ‘80s pallor that had settled in and choosing to highlight its former Art Deco and early feminist glory with plush fabrics and vintage memorabilia.

The Panhellenic Tower was the idea of Emily Eaton Hepburn. Hepburn, a member of the sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma who graduated from St. Lawrence College and Barnard College, devoted herself to civic and social causes, most notably women’s suffrage. After her husband died in 1922, she became president of the Panhellenic House Association in 1925. “After women won the vote in 1920, Hepburn saw the sororities as continuations of the spirit of that campaign,” Scutts said.

Hepburn, who also helped open the Theodore Roosevelt house-museum in 1923, was drawn to the Panhellenic Tower project to “prove that women could do big business,” according to her biography. In 1926, she purchased the site at 49th Street and First Avenue, hiring the architect John Mead Howells to build the skyscraper. Construction began in 1927, and by the following year, residents had started to move in.

Hepburn not only developed the building herself — adding details like a scattering of Greek letters on the building’s base, and hiring the renowned sculptor Rene Paul Chambellan to add ornamental Art Deco-style carvings — but also ensured that upon its completion, the trustees who ran it would all be women, Scutts said. By 1928, Hepburn had turned the building over to the Panhellenic House Association. It was the only hotel in New York at the time to be owned and managed by women, according to a 1929 sorority publication.

The building was celebrated for its dramatic design and ingenious solution to a housing crisis. While the 380 rooms were decorated simply, the solarium was highlighted by Robert A.M. Stern in his book “New York 1930” for its “dark tones and sinuous patterns on the wall” and “waving fronds of metallic foliage applied around the central elevator door, tall lancet windows, and French-influenced furniture.”

But as the decades wore on, these design elements went out of fashion. A 1970 review of the Top of the Tower’s $3.25 lunch buffet by Craig Claiborne of The New York Times said, “There is nothing wrong with the tawdry interior of the Top of the Tower that an accomplished designer couldn’t improve.”

That happened in 2017, when Merchants Hospitality acquired the rooftop lounge. Soon, a female design team, Public Agenda, had been hired to update the rooftop.

Laura Mueller-Soppart, 26, and Eliza Liepina, 27, the founders of Public Agenda, met through a more modern communal housing version of the Panhellenic Tower: Airbnb. In 2015, Liepina was visiting New York and stayed in Mueller-Soppart’s apartment. The two discovered they had a lot in common, both working in real estate development — Mueller-Soppart for Two Trees and Liepina for WeWork, as its development manager in Germany. They started Public Agenda in 2016 and had recently partnered with Merchants to design a speakeasy-style bar also in Midtown, Sugar East.

Mueller-Soppart and Liepina were immediately taken with Beekman Tower. “We were inspired by the history and strong female narrative surrounding the lounge and needed to pay respect to it,” Mueller-Soppart said.

“You have a responsibility both to the history of the space and the community of the building,” Liepina said, “as well as a responsibility to create a space that actually works for the people that will use it in the future.”

Public Agenda then hired other women who they felt would respect the building’s history to customize furniture and consult on finishes and design the graphics and website. Early on, the designers came up with the idea of a cabinet of curiosities. For this, an antiques specialist was hired to source items from the first half of the 20th century. The most exciting finds were items with direct provenance to the building, like postcards with images of Beekman Tower and a matchbox from Top of the Tower, which are displayed on shelves on either side of the bar — or in the bar itself, inside its glass inset. There are also various sorority ephemera, about 100 mounted butterflies, a silver etched vanity set from 1930s New York and a Kewpie doll, which Scutts noted has ties to the woman’s suffrage movement.

But some people find themselves missing the old bar. Ann Seligman, 67, has lived in the neighborhood for 25 years. She first remembers going to the Top of the Tower around 2001, and it soon became her favorite place to bring out-of-towners. “The last time I went, there was a big comet in New York, I think that was in 2012, and I went with a friend because we thought that would be the place we could get a good view of the comet.”

After recently going to Ophelia, Seligman found herself missing the old incarnation. “The design is lovely and there’s not any particular thing I can point to, but in an overall way I feel like the previous décor was more genuinely Art Deco than this is,” she said. “I hate to say it, but I probably prefer the old.”

Luckily for Seligman and other nostalgic New Yorkers, the views remain no less dazzling.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

DEVORAH LEV-TOV © 2018 The New York Times

source https://www.newssplashy.com/2018/05/opinion-dusting-off-art-deco-feminist.html

[estherdel-blog]

This Will Make You Smarter - Mr. John Brockman | Science & Nature |459483846

This Will Make You Smarter Mr. John Brockman Genre: Science & Nature Price: $8.99 Publish Date: February 14, 2012 Featuring a foreword by David Brooks, This Will Make You Smarter presents brilliant—but accessible—ideas to expand every mind. What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit? This is the question John Brockman, publisher of Edge.org, posed to the world’s most influential thinkers. Their visionary answers flow from the frontiers of psychology, philosophy, economics, physics, sociology, and more. Surprising and enlightening, these insights will revolutionize the way you think about yourself and the world. Daniel Kahneman on the “focusing illusion” • Jonah Lehrer on controlling attention • Richard Dawkins on experimentation • Aubrey De Grey on conquering our fear of the unknown • Martin Seligman on the ingredients of well-being • Nicholas Carr on managing “cognitive load” • Steven Pinker on win-win negotiating • Daniel C. Dennett on benefiting from cycles • Jaron Lanier on resisting delusion • Frank Wilczek on the brain’s hidden layers • Clay Shirky on the “80/20 rule” • Daniel Goleman on understanding our connection to the natural world • V. S. Ramachandran on paradigm shifts • Matt Ridley on tapping collective intelligence • John McWhorter on path dependence • Lisa Randall on effective theorizing • Brian Eno on “ecological vision” • Richard Thaler on rooting out false concepts • J. Craig Venter on the multiple possible origins of life • Helen Fisher on temperament • Sam Harris on the flow of thought • Lawrence Krauss on living with uncertainty

[friendsandfamilyvt]

Tongues Untied ~ Free Screening!

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Friday, October 20th! 

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Come and get cozy with us as we screen Marlon Riggs' 1989 masterpiece, "Tongues Untied." This incredibly controversial essay film explores Riggs' personal struggle with coming to terms with his identity as a gay African-American male. The film moves fluidly between the boundaries of film, music and poetry in order to create an exploration of human identity. "Marlon Riggs's Tongues Untied rises above the 'deeply personal' — far above it — in exploring what it means to be black and gay. Angry, funny, erotic and poetic by turns (and sometimes all at once), it jumps from interview to confession, music video to documentary to poem." —Craig Seligman, San Francisco Examiner It's a free event, but donations will be accepted! Popcorn and hot apple cider will be served! :) email friendsandfamilyvt@gmail.com for address.