ChrisR

... and this time it's Only Boys Aloud who pay(s) the price. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-39292792

Well, Jackson was the first (and only) President to end his time in office with a balanced budget. Perhaps that might be a goal for President Trump, and cause for that portrait, though a repeat of that feat is infinitely impossible. Granted, in the days of Jackson slavery was still well supported by most Americans and Jackson did nothing to change that. The Trail of Tears was a direct outcome of Jackson's policies, but which of the subsequent presidents has been the one to restore the honor and lifestyle of Native Americans? My count is 'zero'. And, it should be remembered, Jackson was a Democrat. Oddly enough, Jackson was strongly opposed to the Electoral College. If he'd been successful in that opposition there wouldn't be a President Trump today. Some presidential failures are more costly than others.

... or is this what they're calling it now? Gay teen describes traumatizing experience at gay conversation camps On two headlines on this morning's abcnews.go.com website (edited because cut/paste didn't work)

The American medical industry, independent of which party is in power, exists for the primary purpose of extracting as much money as is "ethically" possible from its patients before those patients take their final breath.

You'll likely enjoy the book. It was great many years back in its first iteration, and I'll hope it has even more to say to contemporary America in this rewrite. It's a bit of a diversion from the truism 'history is written by those who win'. Do let us know whether you feel the author makes valid points without trying to turn the world upside down simply for the sake of being controversial.

This tale just keeps on getting better. Rarely have I felt as truly enveloped by any story as I have been by China Boat. And even more rarely have I encountered a work that I so much hope doesn't end! This has the feel of a finely crafted masterpiece and has taken me to new places and experiences I've not had before. Right up to and including a 2-year-old flautist scoring for film! Absolutely brilliant. Thank you, Douglas.

I agree that education is a crucial component in any society, but Chris James makes the greater point that it is common sense, not 'book larnin', that is less teachable and far too often absent. Common sense is more likely to sprout in the open air of real-world experience than in an academic cloister. Common sense might suggest that the dust-up over misspelling Messr. Du Bois' name is far more likely the fault of a carryover employee from the previous administration than a new hire. Twenty days would have been a pretty short time period to hire 17,000 Department of Education replacements. As for spelling errors among educated professionals, just for fun -- start keeping track. The day does not pass that I don't find mistakes in the highly-vaunted self-aggrandizing Press. It's one thing to pursue excellence -- something else to criticize others for not living up to one's own lofty self proclamation. Lest there be any doubt, examine James Savik's excellent story by Hans Christian Andersen, (quite apropos to the discussion of El Don) published by no less an authority than the Hans Christian Andersen Centre at the University of Southern Denmark. Can such an esteemed author and august body not avoid the simple typing errors I've seen discussed on this very board? The end of paragraph 6 in the story shows the Emperor's decision ending in a period followed by a close quote. [...better."] Yet two paragraphs later, the same Emperor's thought ends with a close quote followed by a period! [...at all".] Good heavens! Call the Literary Polizei! And for the record, lest one make incorrect assumptions, I may be in Messr. Du Bois' 24% category, but it doesn't mean I voted that way.

No longer simply the little islands next to that big island south of the equator, Zealandia (not to be confused with Zoolander or Zoolandia) is now being declared an actual continent in its own right! Yes, it's true. Granted, it's also a fact that 94% of the new continent's 1.9 million square miles can only be visited by SCUBA and bathyscaphe, but that's a YUGE chunk of harbor area. Question of the day, of course, is whether the nation will now expand its national borders to incorporate the enlarged reach. Take that, South China Sea! Way to go, NZ! You can't make this stuff up! http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/scientists-discover-gigantic-lost-continent-that-sunk-into-the-ocean-millions-of-years-ago/news-story/960ddddbc7e338bcf9048255dfb18e56

We do have just such a means. It's known as The General Election of 2020. (One already dreads how often we'll be subjected to speeches about "The Great Vision of 20/20".) Should it become necessary before that time, there is Mike Pence, who already fails your test. Then come Representative Paul Ryan and the rather past-his-prime Senator Orrin Hatch. Unless you are reading a Tom Clancy novel and need to track down the Deputy-Second-Under-Assistant-Secretary of Agriculture or some such oddity in the line of succession at Thunder Mountain. The option presented in last year's election was somewhat America's latest attempt at a monarchy. The Adamses, Kennedys, Bushes and, now, Clintons have all given it a try but to no long-term avail. (The Roosevelts shared a name, but were only fifth cousins, so I don't count them.) The nation has proven to dislike that 'family' model. And flawed as the Electoral College may be perceived this time, it has served its initial intended purpose to keep large, populous, states from running roughshod over the less so. If thought necessary, there is a legal means to change that process as well. Unlike many parliamentary systems, the US can't just call a new vote for next Thursday. There is a somewhat more predictable process here for changing government. For good or for bad? That's a tougher question. But there are legal ways to do that too. It's the less legal means - on either side - that have me concerned.

Graeme - Only one complaint to offer about the story -- it ended! What a great tale with vivid characters and wonderful complexity. It's interesting to see the similarities and differences among people and places. But now I'm quite curious what will become of this motley crew in 5, 10, and 20 years. You're going to force me to dust off my imagination. And I thank you for getting me this far.

There is an interesting if somewhat frightening perspective on this in the Australian press today. I don't necessarily buy it, but it's worth some thought. Entitled: Is The United States In The Middle Of A Coup? http://www.news.com.au/world/north-america/is-the-us-in-the-middle-of-a-coup/news-story/ab0ece5c5b27b004b0b203fcce435a92

Des, the prose is grand, but just when in the history of mankind did we live in this "life and love" world? Even the Bible tells us that when there were only 4 humans present, one of them killed off a quarter of the human race - a percentage not even approached ever since. (Except the one time where God killed off nearly everybody for being bad. Hmm.) Perhaps it truly is our nature. And James, the ranter is right, but isn't it somehow counterproductive that he's screaming at us the whole time he's telling us how stupid it is not to talk with one another?

A while back, C-Span did an excellent series on the history on major rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court. [ http://landmarkcases.c-span.org/ ] In the opening segment they examined the case that established the Court as the ultimate arbiter of the law in this country, something that is not really stated in the Constitution. Unfortunately, the Constitution does establish the President as the ultimate enforcer. I am concerned that at some point soon those two doctrines are going to collide. And the 150-member Supreme Court security force is slightly outnumbered. What's the old curse? "May you lead an interesting life!"

I've never really liked those cleaners that guarantee to kill 99.9% of all germs on contact. Now I remember why! Brilliantly written, James.

I admire your optimism that we might live that long. The Federation of Atomic Scientists just updated their infamous Doomsday Clock to read two-and-one-half minutes until midnight. That's the closest to the end since 1953, shortly after the US detonated its first thermonuclear device. Trump's patois is difficult to follow, though one way or another it ends up being self-aggrandizement at its finest (worst?). This guy isn't 96 hours into his presidency and I'm already looking back with comparatively fond memories of the Watergate era.

Explained at Snopes - http://www.snopes.com/white-house-web-site-trump-changes/ Not even Trump/Pence would be that quick.

Just beautiful. Even the misspelling adds credibility!

And trapped in this bionic body of mine I saw every flash as vividly as Bobby. Well done!

Well I watched it and came away feeling about as blah as before it. Lots of platitudes, nothing concrete. Except, of course, that we're going to rebuild everything and hire everybody and the heck with anybody else. Basically, trump stump 2.0.

“I want this United Kingdom to emerge from this episode of change stronger, fairer, more united and more outward looking than ever before," she said. “They voted to leave the European Union and embrace the world." I'd be willing to bet that the same argument, nearly verbatim, was used by the politicians to "BrEnter" in the first place.

Sadly, loving parents like those in Douglas' story are not the universal norm. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/01/16/report-mother-stabbed-her-teenage-son-to-death-because-was-gay.html

Thanks for the posting, Chris. Sadly it looks more like The Trump Era. Buckle up -- it's going to be a rough ride. Before we sent our attaches to serve in Moscow in the good old godless commies day, we always gave them the Four-B's briefing to protect them against the most common causes of compromising themselves: Booze, Broads, Boys, and the Black Market. Unfortunately I don't think that video is shown on the SS Trump airplane so it's easy to see how a person with such a - um - 'positive self image' might be in trouble. Unfortunately, most people won't read the original document ( https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3259984-Trump-Intelligence-Allegations.html ) and will leave it to the pundits to translate. I was amused to see several "news" organizations upset that somebody had the irresponsible audacity to put the full document on the web for mere peons to read without the newspeoples' brilliant interpretation. (And ability to stretch the soundbite into a week or more of coverage.) A perfect example is the idea that the golden shower ladies were underage. I too heard that on two separate networks. But the original document [p. 2] addresses the incident and identifies them only as prostitutes with no age cited. But that wasn't sufficiently salacious for the press, so they boost it up a notch. They seem to work overtime to make the bad enough even worse. Film at 11.

Nicely played!

Would that be the test kit suppliers or the tea leaves suppliers?!