May 15 2021

The Preakness: The Middle Child Of The Triple Crown

The Preakness Stakes is the second of the three horse races for the Triple Crown .

The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs (1+3⁄16 miles (1,900 m)) on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies 121 pounds (55 kg). It is the second jewel of the Triple Crown, held two weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks before the Belmont Stakes.

First run in 1873, the Preakness Stakes was named by a former Maryland governor after the colt who won the first Dinner Party Stakes at Pimlico. The race has been termed “The Run for the Black-Eyed Susans” because a blanket of Maryland’s state flower is placed across the withers of the winning colt or filly. Attendance at the Preakness Stakes ranks second in North America among equestrian events, only surpassed by the Kentucky Derby.

Two years before the Kentucky Derby was run for the first time, Pimlico introduced its new stakes race for three-year-olds, the Preakness, during its first-ever spring race meet in 1873. Then Maryland governor Oden Bowie named the then mile and one-half (2.41 km) race in honor of the colt Preakness from Milton Holbrook Sanford’s Preakness Stud in Preakness, Wayne Township, New Jersey, who won the Dinner Party Stakes on the day Pimlico opened (October 25, 1870). The New Jersey name was said to have come from the Native American name Pra-qua-les (“Quail Woods“) for the area.[1] After Preakness won the Dinner Party Stakes, his jockey, Billy Hayward, untied a silk bag of gold coins that hung from a wire stretched across the track from the judges’ stand. This was the supposed way that the “wire” at the finish line was introduced and how the awarding of “purse” money came to be.[2] In reality, the term “purse”, meaning prize money, had been in use for well over a century.

The first Preakness, held on May 27, 1873, drew seven starters. John Chamberlain’s three-year-old, Survivor, collected the $2,050 winning purse by galloping home easily by 10 lengths. This was the largest margin of victory until 2004, when Smarty Jones won by 11 1/2 lengths.

In 1890, Morris Park Racecourse in the Bronx, New York hosted the Preakness Stakes. This race was run under handicap conditions, and the age restriction was lifted. The race was won by a five-year-old horse named Montague. After 1890, there was no race run for three years. For the 15 years from 1894 through 1908, the race was held at Gravesend Race Track on Coney Island, New York. In 1909 it returned to Pimlico.

Seven editions of the Preakness Stakes have been run under handicap conditions, in which more accomplished or favored horses are assigned to carry heavier weight. It was first run under these conditions in 1890 and again in the years 1910–1915. During these years, the race was known as the Preakness Handicap. [..]

The 145th running of the Preakness Stakes was held on Saturday, October 3, 2020, a delay resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak earlier in the year, and setting the year’s contest four weeks after the also-delayed Kentucky Derby. It was held without spectators for health reasons because of the outbreak.

Today’s race is 146th running of the race.

In May of 2019, ek hornbeck wrote this about the Peakness

Preakness Trivia

  • Actually 2 years older than the Kentucky Derby.
  • Shortest in distance (1/16th shorter than the Derby).
  • Only the Derby has a larger attendance.

There have been 37 winners of both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes including the 13 Triple Crown winners.

Preakness Traditions

Winners don’t get the real Woodlawn Cup, which is rumored to be the most valuable in Sports, to keep but a half size replica (oh, and the Woodlawn Racing Club is defunct). Black Eyed Susans don’t bloom until 2 months after the Preakness. No Black Eyed Susan has ever been used, currently it’s painted Chysthanthemums. The Old Clubhouse was destroyed in a fire in 1966. They paint the winner’s racing silks on the weathervane. No one on the internet knows why it’s called the Alibi Breakfast.

Official Website

I need a drink-

Black Eyed Susan Recipe
(Official, but without the brand names) 

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 oz. Bourbon (20% of Early Times is aged in used barrels)
  • 3/4 oz. Vodka
  • 3 oz. Sweet and Sour Mix
  • 2 oz. Orange Juice

Preparation:

Fill a highball glass with shaved ice, add the liquors first, then top off with orange juice and sweet and sour mix. Stir and garnish with an orange slice, cherry, and stirrer.

It is impossible to talk about the Preakness this year without mentioning the 2 major controversies. The first and most easily disposed of is the fouling at the finish of the Kentucky Derby. Clearly Maximum Security violated some arcane rule about shutting down racing lines during the stretch and it’s easy to see why that can create a dangerous situation because horses don’t crash very gracefully. On the other hand it’s very difficult to distinguish that from mere hard racing. My advice is to hire some veteran refs from the NHL who can distinguish between a Legal and an Illegal Check (NFL refs being clearly hopeless for the task).

The other thing you can’t escape so easily are the deaths-

A horse died at Santa Anita on the same day another died at Pimlico
By Jacob Bogage, Washington Post
May 18, 2019

As horse racing reels from the shocking death of a horse on Friday at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course that marred the weekend of the Preakness Stakes, another horse was killed training across the country at historic Santa Anita Park, thrusting the sport further into controversy during its most important period of the season.

Commander Coil, an unraced 3-year-old gelding, broke down of a shoulder injury during a routine gallop in training hours at the California racetrack. He is the 24th horse to die there since Dec. 26, and track executives still have yet to identify the underlying cause of the fatalities. One executive called the issues “multi-factorial,” but soil experts have not discovered anything unusual at the 84 year-old facility.

California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) has called for the state’s horse racing commission to halt racing until four full-time investigators conclude their work studying the horses’ deaths, and state legislators have pledged to hold hearings on the state of the track.

Officials halted racing there in March after 21 equine deaths in a three-month span, but another horse, 3-year-old filly Princess Lili B, was killed after breaking both legs at the conclusion of a timed workout the day after the track reopened. Two weeks later, 5-year-old gelding Arms Runner, broke down during a fall on the turf course.

Before Commander Coil’s death, Santa Anita had gone six weeks without a horse fatality.
…
The same day, Congrats Gal, a 3-year-old filly, collapsed of what veterinarians suspect to be a heart attack after the Miss Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

“The sickening collapse and sudden death of Congrats Gal at Pimlico are proof that the Maryland racing industry has not done enough to protect horses,” Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said in a statement. “ . . . We will be contacting the district attorney’s office, as we did in California, where the D.A. has appointed a task force to investigate training and veterinary practices.”

This happened just yesterday, Friday, less than 24 hours ago. The Stronach Group that owns Santa Anita also owns Pimlico Race Course.

This year’s race is dominated by the news of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failing a post race drug test. The horse has since been cleared for today’s race and the owner Bob Baster agreed to “rigorous testing and monitoring” and a “commitment from Bob Baffert to full transparency of medical and testing results that will allow for all results to be released to the public.”

There are just 10 horses in he race. Here are the starting positions and odds as of May 12.

 

Finish Program
Number		 Horse Trainer Jockey Morning
Line Odds[6]		 Final
Odds		 Margin
(Lengths)		 Winnings
1 Ram D. Wayne Lukas Ricardo Santana Jr. 30–1
2 Keepmeinmind Robertino Diodoro David Cohen 15–1
3 Medina Spirit Bob Baffert John Velazquez 9–5
4 Crowded Trade Chad Brown Javier Castellano 10–1
5 Midnight Bourbon Steve Asmussen Irad Ortiz Jr. 5–1
6 Rombauer Michael McCarthy Flavien Prat 12–1
7 France Go de Ina Hideyuki Mori Joel Rosario 20–1
8 Unbridled Honor Todd Pletcher Luis Saez 15–1
9 Risk Taking Chad Brown Jose Ortiz 15–1
10 Concert Tour Bob Baffert Mike Smith 5–2

The 2021 Preakness Stakes will air on Saturday, May 15 from 2 to 5 p.m. ET on NBCSN and from 5 to 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Coverage is also available to stream live on NBCSports.com and on the NBC Sports app. Post time is 5:45 PM ET. I’ll post the results as soon as they are available.

May 15 2021

Cartnoon

When I got to Zealand to celebrate the turn of the millenium, at the hotel, we were greeted that evening after dinner with a Haka, the traditional Maori ceremonial dance. The Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. It is performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted accompaniment. Originally, it was associated with the traditional battle preparations of male warriors. Today, Haka are performed to welcome distinguished guests, or to acknowledge great achievements, occasions or funerals.

TMC for ek hornbeck

May 15 2021

The Breakfast Club (Perfidia)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Alabama Gov. George Wallace shot on presidential campaign trail; Newly-founded Israel attacked by Arab neighbors; The U.S. Supreme Court breaks up Standard Oil.; Country singer June Carter Cash dies.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

While democracy in the long run is the most stable form of government, in the short run, it is among the most fragile.

Madeleine Albright

Continue reading

May 14 2021

Late Night Today

Late Night Today is for our readers who can’t stay awake to watch the shows. Everyone deserves a good laugh.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Congressman Clyde’s Capitol Tours!

Come one, come whole mob!

Vaccinated People Free To Go Maskless, As “Covid Penis” Concerns Rise

The CDC says fully vaccinated Americans can now feel free to resume most normal activity without wearing a mask, while news that Covid-19 may lead to erectile dysfunction is giving men another reason to avoid infection.

Quarantinewhile… Chicago Gambles On Cats To Rid The City Of Rats

Quarantinewhile… In a move that couldn’t possibly go wrong, the city of Chicago has placed all its rodent removal hopes on the trustworthiness of 1,000 feral cats.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Bitcoin’s Downturn, $1 Million Vaccine Incentives & Going Undercover in High School

Elon Musk bans Tesla purchases with Bitcoin in a reversal on cryptocurrency, states offer hefty incentives for getting a coronavirus vaccine, and a 28-year-old woman poses as a high school student to promote her Instagram.

What Is Ransomware? – If You Don’t Know, Now You Know

After a ransomware hack devastated the East Coast’s gasoline supply, Trevor takes a look at what ransomware is, how it works and why the only solution is to go on airplane mode.

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Rep. McCarthy Denies Republicans Are Still Focused on 2020 Election Loss

Republicans Refuse to Move On from Donald Trump: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at the Republican Party refusing to move on from Trump after he lost the 2020 election by 7 million votes.

CORRECTIONS: Week of Monday, May 10

Seth Meyers takes a moment to address some of the errors from this week of Late Night, like purposely misspelling “sike” and lying about never having been to Wyoming.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Crazy Vaccine Misinformation Keeping Americans Unvaccinated

The Environmental Protection Agency gave a forecast for climate change, the Colonial Pipeline Company reportedly paid the ransom demanded by Russian hackers, Ted Cruz is very worried about a shortage of Chick-Fil-A dipping sauces in America, the CDC updated the mask mandate saying that people who are fully vaccinated no longer have to wear masks in most situations, the “Vax-A-Million” lottery game is coming to Ohio since vaccination numbers are down, people who don’t trust the vaccine are getting their “facts” from a chiropractor named Dr. Steven Baker who is spreading misinformation so we talked to REAL doctor Melissa Maginnis from the University of Maine, and since a lot of kids are scared of getting their shot we came up with a new mascot who is sure to put your kids at ease, plus “This Week in Unnecessary Censorship.”

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Are We Getting Too Comfortable as a Show?

James Corden kicks off the show, and very much to the chagrin of CBS Senior Vice President of Late Night Programming (West Coast) Nick Bernstein – a happily married man – he, Ian Karmel and the staff show off their brand new sweats from a popular clothing company (we’re not saying here because Nick is our boss). And the CDC says vaccinated people are free to move without masks!

May 14 2021

Pondering the Pundits

Pondering the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news media and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Pondering the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

Paul Krugman: What Do Used Car Prices Say About Biden’s Agenda?

What did we learn from April’s inflation report? Not much.

So, should President Biden scrap his economic agenda because Americans are rushing to buy used cars?

OK, I’m being a bit snarky here, but only a bit. That’s pretty much what economists trying to draw big conclusions based on Wednesday’s inflation report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics are saying.

It’s true that while almost everyone was expecting a spike in consumer prices, the actual spike was bigger than expected. The one-year inflation rate went above 4 percent, surpassing its previous recent peak, in 2011.

It’s not silly to ask whether unexpectedly high inflation means that the economy has less room to run than both the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve have been assuming; that could be true, and if it were, Biden’s spending plans might be excessive and the Fed might need to consider raising interest rates sooner rather than later.

But neither the details of that report nor recent history support those concerns; they suggest, on the contrary, that policymakers should keep their cool. This doesn’t look at all like 1970s stagflation redux; it looks like a temporary blip, reflecting transitory disruptions as the economy struggles to recover from pandemic disruptions. And history tells us that it’s a very bad idea for policymakers to panic in the face of such a blip.

To see why, let’s revisit what happened in 2011, the last time we saw this kind of inflation blip.

Michelle Goldberg: How Republicans Could Steal the 2024 Election

Liz Cheney’s ouster showed that the G.O.P. is still at war with democracy.

Erica Newland serves as counsel for Protect Democracy, a nonprofit organization founded in 2017 to fight democratic breakdown in America. Before Joe Biden’s victory was officially confirmed in January, she researched some of the ways that Donald Trump’s allies in Congress might sabotage the process. She came to a harrowing conclusion.

“It occurred to me,” she told her colleagues then, “as I dug into the rules and watched what happened, that if the current Republican Party controls both Houses of Congress on Jan. 6, 2025, there’s no way if a Democrat is legitimately elected they will get certified as the president-elect.” [..]

If that happens, the election would be tossed to the House, with each state delegation getting one vote. Even now, with the House as a whole controlled by Democrats, there are more states whose representatives are predominantly Republican. With enough procedural mischief, politicians representing a minority of the country could hand the presidency to a candidate who got a minority of both the popular and Electoral College votes. If this has never been an evident danger in the past, it’s because both parties were at least outwardly committed to liberal democracy, and probably thought their voters were, too.

That is no longer true. The Republican electorate, believing that Democratic victories are by their nature illegitimate, demands that everything possible be done to subvert them. For rejecting the anti-democratic turn in her party, Cheney — a right-wing extremist in many other regards — has been cast out. Republicans are showing us exactly what they expect of their officials. They’ve made it clear that while American democracy was given a reprieve in 2020, the work of repairing it has barely begun.

Jessica Valenti: The Anti-Abortion Movement Can’t Use This Myth Anymore

Covid-19 may end up inadvertently speeding up abortion progress in America — and exposing conservative hypocrisy along the way.

Last month, the Food and Drug Administration announced that people seeking abortion pills during the Covid-19 pandemic will no longer have to visit a doctor’s office to get a prescription. Under the Trump administration, patients were required to receive the first of the medication’s two doses in person, a mandate upheld by the Supreme Court in January. The new policy instead allows for telemedicine consultations and pills sent by mail. [..]

The F.D.A.’s new rule on telemedicine consultations and abortion by mail will soon arm pro-choice organizations with more studies reiterating the safety of medication abortion and show how shipping pills poses no risk to patients. It will also make it that much more difficult for opponents to make specious arguments about unsafe practices.

Exposing this hypocrisy doesn’t come without a risk. If current trends continue, people ending their pregnancies will increasingly do so at home — circumventing the restrictive policies focused on clinics. Without the ability to use science, reason or even scare tactics in their messaging and legislation, Republicans will, as they have in the past, resort to punitive measures. Already, multiple women who have used medication abortion without going through a doctor have been arrested — and in some cases charged.

For women who live far from clinics or who can’t take extended time off work to travel, access to this medication could be the difference between being forced to carry an unwanted pregnancy and making safe choices about their own lives and futures.

That’s why it’s so important that those who care about abortion rights redouble their efforts to make medication abortion permanently legally available by mail.

Charles M. Blow:: Fatigue Is a Luxury You Can’t Afford

The Republican Party has abandoned democracy and is posing a bigger threat.

As columnists, we often test the boundaries.

We want to write in provocative ways that inspire readers to think and discuss. But we don’t want to descend into hyperbole or, worse yet, hysteria.

As many of our critics are quick to remind us, we often slide right into that abyss. Sometimes they are right. There is no real science or formal methodology to this form of commentary. We write it not only as we see it, but also as we feel it, and our feelings fluctuate.

The danger, of course, is the Chicken Little problem: If you inflate everything into a sky-is-falling panic, what does one write when the sky really does begin to fall? What credibility does one have left among the watchful when the country truly nears the possibility of a political apocalypse?

Well, I’m not sure how to answer that. It seems to me that the possibility of destruction came in waves during the Trump administration, with more near-misses than the heart could handle.

Defcon 1 became our political default, and they wore down our anxieties about the danger. We are human beings; our panic can’t be permanent. Our minds and bodies simply aren’t meant to sustain it.

But here we are again facing another very real threat to our democracy, and it would be a shame if we were so weary of Donald Trump and his supporters’ attacks on the pillars of this country that we dismissed warnings about what it all means, as with all others that preceded it.

Amanda Marcotte: Liz Cheney’s ouster is no isolated incident — Republicans are already back to defending Trump’s coup

During a House hearing on the Capitol riot, Republicans defended the people who attempted to overthrow the election

After Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., was ousted from her role as third highest-ranking member of the GOP in the House on Wednesday, Republican leaders tried very hard to convince mainstream reporters it was for some other reason than what it obviously was: Cheney remains unwilling to go along with Donald Trump’s Big Lie.

“I don’t think anyone is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blatantly lying about Trump’s claims that the election was stolen from him and that the Capitol insurrection was a good thing, told reporters Wednesday. Trump — who is clearly still the de facto leader of the GOP — also spoke out on Wednesday, raving on his blog: “If a thief robs a jewelry store of all of its diamonds (the 2020 Presidential Election), the diamonds must be returned.”

McCarthy’s little tapdance is meant to hoodwink mainstream political reporters into believing that Republicans aren’t actually an anti-democratic party lining up behind a fascist who literally tried to overthrow a democratic election. But it’s a lie so hamfisted that it’s not even getting by the notoriously credulous D.C. press corps. After all, everyone knows Cheney was a fierce ally of Trump’s until he incited a mob to storm the Capitol, threatening the lives of her and her colleagues. Remember, it was a bridge so far that even McCarthy was angry at the time, until his ambition caused him to slither back on his belly to the man who sent a violent mob to the Capitol.

But regardless of who McCarthy thinks he’s fooling, the reality of where the GOP is headed was made all too clear elsewhere on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

May 14 2021

Cartnoon

The Discovery of Oil in the US

Native Americans had known of the oil in western Pennsylvania, and had made some use of it for many years before the mid-19th century. Early European explorers noted seeps of oil and natural gas in western Pennsylvania and New York. Interest grew substantially in the mid-1850s as scientists reported on the potential to manufacture kerosene from crude oil, if a sufficiently large oil supply could be found. And also, it was 13 years after drilling the first oil well in Baku settlement (Bibi-Heybat) in 1846 on Apsheron peninsula. [..]

Salt was a valuable commodity, and an industry developed near salt springs in the Ohio River Valley, producing salt by evaporating brine from the springs. Salt wells were sunk at the salt springs to increase the supply of brine for evaporation. Some of the wells were hand-dug, but salt producers also learned to drill wells by percussion (cable tool) methods. In a number of locations in western Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky, oil and natural gas came up the wells along with the brine. The oil was mostly a nuisance, but some salt producers saved it and sold it as illuminating oil or medicine. In some locations, enough natural gas was produced to be used as fuel for the salt evaporating pans.[3] Early salt brine wells that produced byproduct oil included the Thorla-McKee Well of Ohio in 1814, a well near Burkesville, Kentucky, in 1828,[4] and wells at Burning Springs, West Virginia, by 1836.

The US natural gas industry started in 1821 at Fredonia, Chautauqua County, New York, when William Hart dug a well to a depth of 27 feet (8.2 m) into gas-bearing shale, then drilled a borehole 43 feet (13 m) further, and piped the natural gas to a nearby inn where it was burned for illumination. Soon many gas wells were drilled in the area, and the gas-lit streets of Fredonia became a tourist attraction.

On August 27, 1859, George Bissell and Edwin L. Drake made the first successful use of a drilling rig on a well drilled especially to produce oil, at a site on Oil Creek near Titusville, Pennsylvania. The Drake partners were encouraged by Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864), a chemistry professor at Yale, who tested a sample of the oil, and assured them that it could be distilled into useful products such as illuminating oil.

The Drake well is often referred to as the “first” commercial oil well, although that title is also claimed for wells in Azerbaijan, Ontario, West Virginia, and Poland, among others. However, before the Drake well, oil-producing wells in the United States were wells that were drilled for salt brine, and produced oil and gas only as accidental byproducts. An intended drinking water well at Oil Springs, Ontario found oil in 1858, a year before the Drake well, but it had not been drilled for oil. Historians have noted that the importance of the Drake well was not in being the first well to produce oil, but in attracting the first great wave of investment in oil drilling, refining, and marketing:

“The importance of the Drake well was in the fact that it caused prompt additional drilling, thus establishing a supply of petroleum in sufficient quantity to support business enterprises of magnitude.”

The success of the Drake well quickly led to oil drilling in other locations in the western Appalachian mountains, where oil was seeping to the surface, or where salt drillers had previously found oil fouling their salt wells. During the American Civil War, the oil-producing region spread over much of western Pennsylvania, up into western New York state, and down the Ohio River valley into the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and the western part of Virginia (now West Virginia). The Appalachian Basin continued to be the leading oil-producing region in the United States through 1904.

The first commercial oil well in New York was drilled in 1865. New York’s (and Northwestern Pennsylvania) crude oil is very high in paraffin.

The principal product of the oil in the 19th century was kerosene, which quickly replaced whale oil for illuminating purposes in the United States. Originally dealing in whale oil which was widely used for illumination, Charles Pratt (1830–1891) of Massachusetts was an early pioneer of the natural oil industry in the United States. He was founder of Astral Oil Works in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn, New York. Pratt’s product later gave rise to the slogan, “The holy lamps of Tibet are primed with Astral Oil.” He joined with his protégé Henry H. Rogers to form Charles Pratt and Company in 1867. Both companies became part of John D. Rockefeller‘s Standard Oil in 1874.

TMC for ek hornbeck

May 14 2021

The Breakfast Club (Imagine It)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Colonists go ashore in Virginia to set up Jamestown; Lewis and Clark begin to explore Louisiana Territory; Israel founded; Skylab launched; Movie producer George Lucas born; Singer Frank Sinatra dies.

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

You can’t do it unless you can imagine it.

George Lucas

Continue reading

May 13 2021

Late Night Today

Late Night Today is for our readers who can’t stay awake to watch the shows. Everyone deserves a good laugh.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

The Southeast Has Gone Full ‘Mad Max’ Over Gas Shortage

Did we not learn our lesson from the toilet paper?!

McCarthy Admits Election Wasn’t Stolen, But GOP’s Tent Isn’t Big Enough For Liz Cheney

On the same day that House Republicans voted to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership role, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy attempted to frame the GOP as a “big tent” where free thought and debate are welcome.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

GOP Ousts Liz Cheney and Promotes Elise Stefanik

Rep. Liz Cheney gets voted out as the House Republican Conference chair. Here’s how her replacement, Rep. Elise Stefanik, got to where she is.

Someone Got SIX Pfizer Doses & Trump’s Secret Service Has Secret Relations

Authorities are searching for a tiger that’s missing in Houston, a woman in Italy was mistakenly given six doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and claims surface about Trump family members having inappropriate relations with Secret Service members.

Insurrectigone: Instant Relief For Republican Guilt

Are you a Republican and desperately want to forget that Trump incited the Capitol riots? Suppress your democratic principles and subversion to violence with Insurrectigone, the powerful new drug to relieve Republican guilt.

Late Night with Seth Meyers

Trump Mocks Liz Cheney After House Republicans Oust Her

Republicans Oust Liz Cheney for Rejecting Trump’s Big Lie: A Closer Look

Seth takes a closer look at House Republicans voting to remove Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney from her leadership position for not showing sufficient loyalty to former President Trump.

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Liz Cheney Canceled by Same People Who Hate Cancel Culture

After 427 days of doing the show without a real audience we were given permission to welcome one lucky person to sit in the crowd tonight, people are hoarding gasoline after a group of hackers shut down the biggest pipeline in the U.S., Republicans voted to remove Liz Cheney from her spot as their third highest ranking member of the House, several lawmakers tried to rewrite history during a hearing about the January 6th attack on the Capitol, Caitlyn Jenner lied about voting in the 2020 election, TikTok is testing out a new program that will allow companies to recruit potential employees, and we look back at a year ago this week for a new edition of “This Week in COVID History.”

The Late Late Show with James Corden

James & The Gang Make Big Boat Plans

James Corden kicks off the show checking on some corporate and business development updates – is the show getting closer to setting sail? After, the group looks at the headlines, including the GOP ousting Sen. Liz Chaney from her post for telling the truth about Donald Trump losing the 2020 election.

May 13 2021

Site Issues

I was having trouble getting the sites to load most of the day. Apparently WordPress was doing some upgrades. Hopefully this will clear up some of the issues we’ve been experiencing for some time now.

Thanks for your patience, TMC

May 13 2021

The Breakfast Club (Cynicism)

Welcome to The Breakfast Club! We’re a disorganized group of rebel lefties who hang out and chat if and when we’re not too hungover we’ve been bailed out we’re not too exhausted from last night’s (CENSORED) the caffeine kicks in. Join us every weekday morning at 9am (ET) and weekend morning at 10:00am (ET) (or whenever we get around to it) to talk about current news and our boring lives and to make fun of LaEscapee! If we are ever running late, it’s PhilJD’s fault.

This Day in History

Pope John Paul II shot; English colonists arrive at what becomes Jamestown; Winston Churchill gives his first speech as British prime minister; The U.S. declares war on Mexico; Singer Stevie Wonder born

Breakfast Tunes

Something to Think about over Coffee Prozac

Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the furthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness: a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say ‘no.’ But saying ‘yes’ begins things. Saying ‘yes’ is how things grow.

Stephen Colbert

Continue reading

May 12 2021

Late Night Today

Late Night Today is for our readers who can’t stay awake to watch the shows. Everyone deserves a good laugh.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Fix Your Foxitis With This One Simple Trick

Who knew it could be THIS easy!

Juicy Book Alleges The Former First Family Got Extra Cozy With Secret Service Agents

According to a new book about the Secret Service, one or more members of the former First Family engaged in romantic relationships with the agents assigned to protect them, while the former president was known to request the firing of any agents he deemed overweight.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Let’s Talk About the Israel-Palestine Conflict

Tensions between Israel and Palestine escalate, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Here’s a look at the nuances of the conflict.

Who’s Running in the NYC Mayoral Race?

A large group is running in New York City’s mayoral race, and Andrew Yang is the front-runner despite some missteps. Michael Kosta digs into the new ranked-choice voting system.

Why Everyone Is Boycotting the Golden Globes & SpaceX and Dogecoin Go to the Moon

NBC and Tom Cruise boycott the Golden Globes over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s lack of diversity, and SpaceX will now let you pay to go to the moon using Dogecoin

Late Night with Seth Meyers

FDA Approves Pfizer Vaccine for Teenagers

Jimmy Kimmel Live

MyPillow Mike’s Ranting Rally, Jenner’s Poll Problems, Tiger on the Loose & Viral Menthol Soap Guy

A Bengal Tiger in Houston is still on the loose and things got weirder, several shows are coming back to Broadway, New Yorkers will soon be able to get vaccinated at subway and train stations, North Korea claims that they have had zero instances of COVID, Jeff Bezos is busy building a $500 million super-yacht, Caitlyn Jenner is polling at 6% and she revealed that she didn’t vote in the 2020 election, Pillow Man Mike Lindell has come out of hiding for a much-hyped rally in South Dakota, and Jimmy surprises a couple who went viral for a song he made up about washing his butt with menthol soap (with help from the band Dawes!)

The Late Late Show with James Corden

James Corden Does a Perfect NYC Accent

After explaining to his American coworkers and audience members what a rag-and-bone man is, James and the gang put CBS Senior Vice President of Late Night Programming (West Coast) Nick Bernstein on the hot seat as they flirt with seemingly every brand under the sun. After, James gets into the headlines including an update on the gas pipeline hack and a marriage proposal using a biscuit from an unnamed fried chicken chain.

Dogs In Sunglasses

You can give these dogs a bone, but do so at your own risk.

May 12 2021

Good News: CoVid-19 Vaccination Keeps You Well

First, I want to apologize for the light postings but I work full time, sometimes full time and a half and BobbyK has a busy full time job and a family. I still work in Emergency Medicine but now from the desk, teaching. Much of it has been virtual but, occasionally, it is hands on with the students. I do this as well as my work with an international NGO. So, no, I haven’t forgotten our loyal readers, I just need a 30 hour day to get some sleep. I am also working on fixing the commenting and posting kinks. That said:

There is some really great news for those who are fully vaccinated against SARS-CoVid-2: we can start resuming our normal routines, movies, dining out, visiting family and friends who are vaccinated, without the worry of getting sick. In the rare cases of a vaccinated person contracting the virus, the symptoms are minimal and will probably keep you out or the hospital.

Got the vaccine? Experts say you can relax about your Covid-19 risk now. Really.

I asked health experts about their post-vaccination lives. Most no longer worry about their own risk of Covid-19.

By German Lopez, Vox.com

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said he will not go into restaurants or movie theaters, even though he’s vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says vaccinated people should continue masking up indoors and avoiding large gatherings. News outlets have reported on “breakthrough infections” of Covid-19 among the fully vaccinated.

All of this can make it seem like getting vaccinated may not be enough to liberate people from the fear of getting sick and the precautions they’ve taken to avoid the coronavirus in the past year. So I posed a question to experts I’ve talked to throughout the pandemic about Covid-related precautions: How worried are you about your personal safety after getting vaccinated?

They were nearly unanimous in their response: They’re no longer worried much, if at all, about their personal risk of getting Covid-19. Several spoke of going into restaurants and movie theaters now that they’re vaccinated, socializing with friends and family, and having older relatives visit for extended periods. [..]

As vaccination rates climb and daily new cases and deaths drop, experts said that people should feel more comfortable easing up on precautions, shifting the world back to the pre-pandemic days. That might happen sooner than you think — Israel’s experience suggests that cases could start to sustainably plummet once about 60 percent of the population is vaccinated, a point that could be just a month or two away in the US. And with 46 percent of Americans getting one dose so far, cases in the US have already started to decline.

As more of the population gets the vaccine, it’s prudent to keep masking and avoiding large gatherings, and for people who’ve been vaccinated to share their stories and encourage their friends and family to get vaccinated, too. But that’s not because those who are vaccinated are in any trouble. Even with the spread of the variants, the consensus among experts is that vaccinated people shouldn’t worry much about their own risk of Covid-19. [..]

The real-world evidence has backed this up. In Israel, the country with the most advanced vaccination campaign, the data shows that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine has been more than 90 percent effective at preventing infections, with even higher rates of blocking symptomatic disease, hospitalization, and death. You can see this in the country’s overall statistics: After Israel almost fully reopened its economy in March, once the majority of the population had at least one dose, daily new Covid-19 cases fell by more than 95 percent. And daily deaths are now in the single digits and, at times, zero.

The research also shows the vaccines are effective against the coronavirus variants that have been discovered so far. While some variants seem better able to get around immunity, the vaccines are so powerful that they still by and large overwhelm and defeat the variants in the end. [..]

Some recent research found that the vaccines can reduce the chances of a vaccinated person spreading the virus to others. The CDC summarized one such real-world study for the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, showing the vaccines stop not just symptoms but overall infections and, therefore, transmission:

Results showed that following the second dose of vaccine (the recommended number of doses), risk of infection was reduced by 90 percent two or more weeks after vaccination. Following a single dose of either vaccine, the participants’ risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 was reduced by 80 percent two or more weeks after vaccination.

But in the typically cautious worlds of science and public health, experts want to see a bit more research and data before they declare that vaccinated people can throw out their masks and gather in large numbers indoors. (Some experts also said they may continue masking and avoiding crowded indoor spaces during flu season, after such measures seemed to crush the flu in the past year.)

Even if the vaccine proves to reduce transmission, it would still be safer for every person who can get vaccinated to get the shot. And as more people get their shots, it’s also safer to stick to some precautions for their sake.

As for the continued hospitalizations and deaths, they are dropping dramatically. the patients who are requiring hospitalization are those who have not been vaccinated.

COVID-19 patients total 170 at local hospitals, not a single one vaccinated
By Brian Hamnick, WLWT5 News

HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio —

Vaccine effectiveness is showing up in real-world numbers as local hospitals calculate how many COVID-19 patients have been vaccinated.

“When you look at our hospitals right now, there are about 150 people with COVID in those hospitals. None of them have had the vaccine,” said Hamilton County health commissioner Greg Kesterman.

The exact breakdown of numbers shows in Southwest Ohio there are 142 hospitalized with COVID-19, 36 are in the ICU, 28 are on ventilators. Zero have been vaccinated.

At St. Elizabeth in Northern Kentucky, there are 28 COVID patients, 7 are in the ICU. Zero have been vaccinated.

“This is what we expected to see. This is what the data showed. This is why the science is leading us in this direction,” said UC College of Medicine Dr. Carl Fichtenbaum. “It should be a wakeup call to people who said, ‘I’m not sure about this vaccine.’”

Fichtenbaum led the Moderna studies at the UC College of Medicine.

Proof of performance is showing up in another vaccine statistic locally.

It works. Get the shot.

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