The day after the midterm elections, the president mocked candidates who didn’t embrace him and went after the media.
👓 The Latest Drama in Trump’s Slow-Motion Saturday Night Massacre | The Atlantic
The president seemed to jump the shark at a White House news conference, threatening Democrats and reporters—and then he fired Jeff Sessions.
📺 "Chopped Junior" Nest Test | Food Network
Directed by Michael Pearlman. With Ted Allen. A "birds' nest" in the first basket is actually a common dish in disguise; when making entrees, the chefs learn a new word for a special type of chicken and must hustle to get it cooked through; and the judges are served similar kind of desserts before declaring a winner.
👓 What Sessions’s Resignation Means for Robert Mueller | The Atlantic
His temporary replacement, Matthew Whitaker, has expressed skepticism over the scope of the Russia investigation—which he’ll now oversee.
👓 Trump’s acting attorney general was part of firm US accused of vast scam | the Guardian
Matthew Whitaker sat on advisory board of World Patent Marketing, which was ordered to pay $26m settlement in May
👓 Trump is in big trouble now that Democrats control the House — and he knows it | CNBC
After American voters hit the brakes on his administration by flipping the House to Democratic control, Trump called a White House news conference to insist he had won "almost a complete victory." And then he made plain he understands viscerally what he has lost.
👓 Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker's old tweets are really something | Mashable
'Dave Matthews is the Jimmy Buffett of our time.'
👓 What we know about Matthew Whitaker, man who replaces Jeff Sessions | ABC News
Matthew Whitaker was appointed has been appointed acting U.S. Attorney General.
👓 Jeff Sessions out as attorney general | CNN
President Donald Trump on Wednesday fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general.
👓 White House suspends press access for CNN’s Jim Acosta | NY Post
The White House suspended press access for Jim Acosta on Wednesday after the CNN reporter had a tense exchange with President Trump during a press conference. Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders…
An incendiary article that leaves some details out for salacious effect. Having seen a portion of the press conference this morning, there’s a bit to be desired in this reporting that does a bit of “he said, she said” without giving a completely accurate picture of the story.
Spent a few minutes late this afternoon to update the CSS on my website to hide the automatic titles given to annotation and highlight posts. Also modified these slightly to give the highlighted/quoted portion of other sites a highlighter-yellow color.
🎧 Sinnerman – Live In New York/1965 | Nina Simone
"Sinner Man" or "Sinnerman" is an African American traditional spiritual song that has been recorded by a number of performers and has been incorporated in many other of the media and arts. The lyrics describe a sinner attempting to hide from divine justice on Judgment Day. It was recorded in the 1950s by Les Baxter, the Swan Silvertones, the Weavers and others, before Nina Simone recorded an extended version in 1965.
🎵 I’m New Here by Gil Scott-Heron (XL, 2010)
I'm New Here is the 13th and final studio album by American vocalist and pianist Gil Scott-Heron. It was released on February 8, 2010, by XL Recordings and was his first release of original music in 16 years, following a period of personal and legal troubles with drug addiction.
The record was produced by XL owner Richard Russell, who was influenced by the 2009 self-titled debut album of English band the xx.[1] I'm New Here is a post-industrial blues album, with spoken word folk songs and trip hop interludes.
I'm New Here received positive reviews from most critics and debuted at number 181 on the US Billboard 200, selling 3,700 copies in its first week. It was promoted with the single "Me and the Devil", an adaptation of blues musician Robert Johnson's "Me and the Devil Blues" (1937). A remix of the album, titled We're New Here, was produced by the xx's Jamie xx and released by XL in 2011.
You can’t spend a chunk of the afternoon reading about Gil Scott-Heron without jumping into his work.
I liked the nod of the Kanye West sampling of Flashing Lights on the song On Coming from a Broken Home as a reverse homage to a generation of hip hop artists and rappers sampling Scott-Heron.