It was also facile and far-fetched

New Yorker: "The finale of 'The Americans' was elegant, potent and unforgettable."

Let's scroll down the garage scene:

A fair amount happened before that Russian denouement, although the crucial sequence began twenty-two minutes in, with a hilariously arch greeting between old friends. “Hey!” the F.B.I. agent Stan Beeman says, cheerfully, to his neighbors, Philip and Elizabeth and their daughter Paige, as they enter a parking garage, preparing to flee the country. “Hi, Paige!” “What . . . what are you doing here?” sputters Philip to Stan, as if they’d all conveniently bumped into one another running errands. Stan holds one finger up and says, calmly, “That’s a great question.”

It was the last moment that Stan would be in control, during a clash of perspectives that should have, by all narrative logic, led straight to prison or, if not, to a shootout, a car chase, or something worse. Instead, ten minutes later, the Jennings were coolly driving away to freedom, as Stan stood by silently, as if paralyzed, watching them go. How did they pull that off?

How indeed?  We're supposed to forget that Philip and Elizabeth killed dozens of people including co-workers and other people close to Stan.  But Philip did some fancy talking and suddenly the Jennings are on the road to Canada.  It just rang false to me. 

When Philip said "we had a job to do" Stan should have responded "and so do I."

"Joe and Joel have had this ending in mind for a long time"

Hmmmmmm.  Series finale of "The Americans" is tonight.  For the record, my guess for the final song is "Lawyers in Love" by Jackson Browne.

Democrats are upset about the state of affairs

Hit and Run: "Democratic Senators Who Voted Against Iran Deal Blame Collapse of Iran Deal for High Gas Prices - Having two senators who opposed the Iran deal show up to denounce Trump for pulling out of the Iran deal was only the beginning of the hypocrisy exhibition."

ICYMI, they're also very upset about Trump's immigration policies...in 2014.

I got that reference - NASCAR edition

Near the start of tonight's Coca-Cola 600, announcer Mike Joy commented on the forward progress of racer Erik Jones by exclaiming: "Along came Jones!"  I'm almost positive that there's only a half-dozen fans in NASCAR nation who got that reference to an old Coasters song:

RIP Alan Bean

Quartz: "Now just four men who walked on the moon are still alive."

Fauxcahontas update

Hot Air (linking CNN): "Elizabeth Warren Quietly Working To Defang Trump’s “Pocahontas” Slur As 2020 Looms."

Pocahontas "slur"?  Let me tell you: I frequent the message boards for the biggest paper in Western Massachusetts and Warren is not popular.  The Indian thing is the least of her problems.  Most she's seen as a do-nothing in Congress who never passes up a chance to pander to some cause.  Like most Republicans, I'm praying she runs for President.

Time to visit Hawaii

Coyote Blog: "Travel Report from the Big Island."  CNN is making it sound like you'll need a face mask; you won't.

That is one dedicated civil servant

Hit and Run: "Firefighter Earned $300K in Overtime by Working More Hours Than Actually Exist = Donn Thompson was paid for more than 9,200 hours of work last year. But there are only 8,760 hours in a year."

To earn that much in overtime pay, Thompson would have had to work more hours than actually exist in a single year. Either the highly paid firefighter found a way to stretch the space-time continuum or something fishy is going on.

As the article points out, in 2017 the Los Angeles Fire Department had over 500 employees pulling in over $100,000 in overtime pay.

Letterman in twilight

Decider: "David Letterman’s Netflix Show Is An Endless, Awkward Parade Of Liberal Guilt."

Here's a band I like

Feed the beast

I often complain about the pitiless search for more revenue in Massachusetts.  In 1989, then-governor Michael Dukakis passed a "temporary" tax increase that has yet to reset to the original rate.  A couple years ago, Beacon Hill legalized gambling to bring in some sweet (consensual) taxation and we're waiting for the pot shops to blaze up.

But governments need money, money, money.  Hit and Run: "St. Louis Town Agrees to Stop Bankrolling Itself by Fining Its Residents into the Poorhouse."

A small St. Louis suburb has agreed to stop trying bankroll its government with a vicious regime of petty fines so excessive that the town has cited more than a third of its population.
...
Pagedale was one of those communities. In the course of a single year, it handed out 2,000 code enforcement citations—almost twice the number of actual households in the city. It tossed out tickets like confetti for a host of really absurd codes, which banned everything from mismatched curtains to holes in window screens to having your pants below your waist to having a barbecue grill or basketball hoop in your front yard to walking on the left side of a crosswalk.

The town's budget depended heavily on these fines. In some years, their proceeds made up a quarter of the city's revenue, according to the Institute for Justice. And the code citations got worse once the state cracked down to stop cities from trying to rake in money from traffic tickets. Eventually, 39 percent of the city's adult population had been fined for some sort of housing violation.

Somebody's going to have to pay for all those pensions.

Meh, we'll get around to it

Fox News: "IG report on Clinton case expected to hit FBI leaders for sitting on emails in 2016."

I'm a problem solver

Problem: Seattle has a lot of homeless people.

Solution: "New Starbucks policy: No purchase needed to sit in cafes."  You're welcome.

Justice is not-so-blind

Great article from Andrew McCarthy about how the Justice Department treated Hillary vs. Trump: "In Politicized Justice, Desperate Times Call for Disparate Measures."

Extreme abridgment: Hillary's email crimes clearly violated the Espionage Act but "no reasonable prosecutor" would bring charges per mind-reader James Comey.  Meanwhile: "The Logan Act is patently unconstitutional, but no court has had the opportunity to invalidate it because, to borrow a phrase, no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case."

Crossfire hurricane

Federalist: "10 Key Takeaways From The New York Times’ Error-Ridden Defense Of FBI Spying On Trump Campaign - It's reasonable to assume that much of the new information in the New York Times report relates to leakers' fears about information that will be coming out in the inspector general report."

The rumors are starting: "Report: IG Has Found Possible Violations Of Law In FBI/DOJ Handling Of Clinton Investigation." 

Good luck with that strategy

As Obamacare heads into the death spiral we all predicted a long, long time ago, it looks like the Democrats have congealed around a strategy: this fatally-flawed legislation is all the fault of the Republicans.  Politico: "Democrats run on GOP health care 'sabotage' - Candidates have a unified message blaming Republicans for ‘sabotaging’ the health law."

Here's the totality of the "sabotage":

They will blame the next round of premium spikes on the GOP because Republicans repealed the individual mandate, eliminated a low-income subsidy, and let people enroll in health plans that don’t have the full range of ACA benefits and patient protections.

First of all, the low-income subsidy was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge, so this argument is that Trump adhered to the law and ceased illegal funding.

Second, when it comes to the individual mandate, the "young invincibles" were already choosing to pay the tax penalty over expensive coverage.  Repealing the individual mandate only recognized the fact that the young'uns couldn't be coerced into buying something that was a terrible deal. 

The final sabotage is giving Americans the freedom to purchase insurance plans that align with their individual needs instead of ones larded up with options they don't want.

So there you have it: Republicans gave you the freedom to purchase health insurance options you want - or none at all - and ended illegal subsidies.  Good luck running on ignoring the law and forcing Americans to buy something they don't want.

Gimme some money

Fox News: "Seattle approves ‘head tax’ on large businesses despite Amazon’s opposition."

Can't wait to see how this all plays out: "In the days ahead of the vote, Amazon said it had halted planning on a new 17-story office tower pending the city council’s decision. The Seattle-based e-commerce company employs more than 40,000 workers in Seattle, with plans for further expansion."

Extra - Twitchy: "Seattle is about to get a lesson in economic incentives." 

Liars and their lying transcripts

Ace: "Who Ya Gonna Believe, James Comey or Two Lying Transcripts of James Comey's Congressional Testimony?"

Shut up and die in New Hampshire

Good gravy, this video is an absolute s--- show.  Turtleboy: "Top 10 Wokest UNH SJWs Who Showed Up To Yell At Socially Liberal Gay Jew Dave Rubin For Being Racist, Transphobic, And Causing Violence."

Dave Rubin of Turning Point USA brought his free speech message to the University of Massachusetts and faced a respectful and engaged audience.  Then he went to the University of New Hampshire and, well, this happened:



Here's Turtleboy:

Anyway, like I said, these people are the reason Trump will win again. It’s a foregone conclusion at this point. As a political moderate I’d like to see a good race. But the fact of the matter is that videos like this and Trigglypuff are widely seen and distributed by millions of people. They see what college campuses have become, and they want to vote for whoever these people don’t want you to vote for. 

These people are trapped in a collective form of insanity.  All Rubin is trying to say is that hate speech exists, and it sucks, but there's nothing the government can do about it.  It just never occurs to them (well, maybe that rambling girl got it) that subjective laws designed to constrain speech you don't like can be turned around to constrain speech you do.

Yeah, probably

Politico: "Hold the Nobel Prize: Kim Is Setting a Trap for Trump - It’s far too early to get excited about the possible outbreak of peace on the Korean Peninsula."

OTOH, we've tried pretty much the same policy for 50 years.  Maybe Trump's chaotic style is the key to a new approach in Korea.