blowing smoke

what did I need these for?

it's all fake

Imagine that Hillary won. Fair and square.

But for perspective,

reverse the political leanings of American media. 

The American Conservative is now a liberal rag. Got it?

And a high percentage of US media outlets are published with a conservative slant. 

And Hillary won.

News media would pick on her hair, the length of her skirt and her rumply, old pantsuits. 

They'd call for investigations of her unsavory closest.

That’s what #fakenews is. 

“Facts, but presented within analysis and commentary to achieve a political outcome.”

We haven't been empowered with evenhanded news reporting since three-quarters of us agreed Walter Cronkite was 1972’s “most trusted man in America.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite

“NEWS” has devolved to a sea of liberal-leaning reporters informing liberal-leaning editors with liberal owners.

#Fakenews is real.

It’s a cancer of ideals about the American press,

 regardless of whose side it may be helping.

creeps in on little night feet

The Belgians think they were first

be cool

I think it’s interesting that we watched a young Senator from Illinois,

a modest fellow who could rise to the occasion and be cool.

And now here’s a guy 16 years older and born on first base,

 stalled and stunned and thinking and struggling to hold on. 

#putyourphonedown

Social media has made us coarser and darker and denser, 

and lots more shallow.

We have little room for inconvenience, other viewpoints

 or the truth about ourselves. 

In graphic designer terms there is not enough white space anymore.

This drives impatient attention spans until some degree of fomo anxiety becomes a norm. 

This is not healthy.

The stress level is showing up at street level.

which is why historic buildings all need bailouts

Built by German immigrant Julius Ruppert in 1871,

614 Courtlandt looks like it belongs down on the Bowery.

Ruppert noticed a growing German community in the South Bronx about that time, and he created housing and a beer hall for the locals.

A renovation in 1882 added detail to the Courtlandt Avenue facade.

The heirs sold it in 1927. 

Then it began its sad decline into disrepair.

It was landmarked in 1987, taken for back taxes by New York City in 1997 and sold for one dollar to a new owner in 2006.

Because of historic significance the new owner was able to assemble 49 different renovation grants totaling $1.1 million dollars.

nytimes

When cash ran low the new owner shopped small renovation contracts around and was able to do the new stoop and refurbish all the architectural detailing. 

The final grant came from the New York Conservancy in the form of $20,000 more, allowing one bedroom and two bedroom apartments to be rented.

So, more than $1.1 million invested in 10 different building permits over a dozen years has yielded a building presently worth about $546,000 dollars.

https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/42856/614-Courtlandt-Ave-Bronx-NY-10455/

next year it’s just the Indigo Girls

With sponsors like Carlsberg Beer, Spotify and Hewlett Packard, 

Sweden’s Bråvalla Music Festival appeared to be a sure thing.

Over 40 sexual assaults later 

and the festival will go forward “women only.”

So let’s be honest about what really happened.

Islam wins as Sweden bows to their Muslims.

With separate genders, the festival is now Sharia compliant.