God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen) is an English traditional Christmas carol. The melody is in Aeolian mode. It was published by William B. Sandys in 1833, although the author is unknown.[1]
Like so many early Christmas songs, this carol was written as a direct reaction to the music of the fifteenth century church, in Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas. However, in the as-yet earliest known publication of the carol on a circa 1760 broadsheet, it is described as a “new Christmas carol,”[2] suggesting its origin is actually in the mid-18th century. It appeared again among “new carols for Christmas” in another 18th-century source, a chapbook believed to be printed between 1780-1800
The charges should have NEVER happened in the first place.
https://twitter.com/TheRoot/status/939270317582831619
https://twitter.com/pdxlawgrrrl/status/939229911469899776
Female aides said Franks suggested intercourse to impregnate them
12/08/2017 03:54 PM EST
Arizona Rep. Trent Franks allegedly made unwanted advances toward female staffers in his office and retaliated against one who rebuffed him, according to House GOP sources with knowledge of a complaint against him.
The allegations, which reached Speaker Paul Ryan and top GOP leaders in recent days, led to Franks’ sudden resignation this week. Franks originally announced that he would resign on Jan. 31, 2018. But just hours after POLITICO inquired about the allegations, he sped up his resignation and left office Friday.
The sources said Franks approached two female staffers about acting as a potential surrogate for him and his wife, who has struggled with fertility issues for years. But the aides were concerned that Franks was asking to have sexual relations with them. It was not clear to the women whether he was asking about impregnating the women through sexual intercourse or in vitro fertilization. Franks opposes abortion rights as well as procedures that discard embryos.
A former staffer also alleged that Franks tried to persuade a female aide that they were in love by having her read an article that described how a person knows they’re in love with someone, the sources said. One woman believed she was the subject of retribution after rebuffing Franks. While she enjoyed access to the congressman before the incident, that access was revoked afterward, she told Republican leaders.
With his goofy looking ass….
Rep. Trent Franks resigns, says wife is in hospital for “ongoing ailment” https://t.co/vFwpxWnfiN pic.twitter.com/ympfU37h2f— Talking Points Memo (@TPM) December 8, 2017
Assassins Kill ‘Panama Papers’ Journalist Who Linked Ivanka Trump To Russian Money Launderers https://t.co/nJwBRmhAr7
— Political Dig (@PoliticalDig) December 8, 2017
SG2,
https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/1715877391835711/?hc_ref=ARQswufD0_bkSuaK5JVxRda3mRoqo_7Ya1mLFIrEnFsA6tA3ix5IzHbRp-TsRZzuJVg&fref=nf
but no climate change THO!
CPS’ Claypool ‘repeatedly lied’ to cover up ethics breach, report says
Politics 12/07/2017, 09:19pm
Dan Mihalopoulos
@dmihalopoulos | email
Lauren FitzPatrick
@bylaurenfitz | email
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s schools chief “repeatedly lied” to investigators and engaged in a “full-blown cover-up” of behavior that he and the top attorney for Chicago Public Schools engaged in over the past 20 months, the CPS inspector general says in a report released Thursday.
In a blistering, 103-page document he sent Tuesday to the Chicago Board of Education, Inspector General Nicholas Schuler said he was “left with no recourse but to conclude” that the board should fire CPS CEO Forrest Claypool.
“Claypool greatly compounded the severity of his misconduct when he repeatedly lied to the [inspector general’s office] through two separate interviews,” Schuler wrote.
But Emanuel rushed to Claypool’s defense after the release of the report. And Frank Clark, the president of the school board — whose members were chosen by Emanuel — also has praised Claypool since getting the report.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/cps-ceo-forrest-claypool-lied-lawyers-ethics-breach-cps-inspector-general-report-nicholas-schuler/
https://twitter.com/rolandsmartin/status/939077961961103360
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/938520452984647680
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/939215627079835648
I feel sorry for the people in prison who will be exposed to this sociopath.
He’d better prepare for a huge beat-down if he takes that foul mouth into a prison setting. I suspect the first thing he’ll do is look for a white supremacist gang in the prison he can join, so he’ll have some protection when he starts running his mouth.
They gon beat his ass but good.
AWL. The sun is out and all the snow is melting away.
My yard
Baby It’s Cold Outside…..
Carson is so precious. Those eyes…
Sweet! Carson’s ready to build a snowman. LOL
What a sweetie.
Love you, Carson! :)
He’s such a sweetie pie. He tries to play a little.
Got this from BJ, from an IT dude about the latest Dolt45/Wikileaks story. This is a HUGE point:
1. We don’t even know about a country called Russia.
2. We knew there’s a country called Russia, but we had nothing to them.
3. We talked to Russia but never colluded.
4. OK, we colluded, but never used their GRU/WIkileaks decryption keys.
5. Oh. Wait.
https://t.co/lUcVMaCNfp— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) December 8, 2017
The Uneven Playing Field
Sure, don’t stoop to their level. But let’s acknowledge that the game Republicans are forcing everyone to play insists morality is for losers.
By Dahlia Lithwick
Just passing us by…
But, MAGA…right?
………………………………………………….
EU agrees biggest free trade deal with Japan.
The European Union and Japan have agreed terms for a free trade deal set to create the world’s biggest open economic area.
The deal – the largest struck by the EU – is expected to liberalise almost all trade between the bloc and the world’s third-largest economy.
It is being seen as a challenge to the protectionism championed by US President Donald Trump.
It must now be ratified by EU members and the European Parliament.
A joint statement by European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the deal had “strategic importance” beyond its economic value.
“It sends a clear signal to the world that the EU and Japan are committed to keeping the world economy working on the basis of free, open and fair markets with clear and transparent rules fully respecting and enhancing our values, fighting the temptation of protectionism,” they said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-42282116
The current state of the Russia probe is this: Russians showed up 20 times saying they wanted to collude. Trumpers said they’d love to collude each time. But somehow they never found the right moment. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 8, 2017
In other words, it’s sort of an influence operation rom com. But the really frustrating kind where it’s completely implausible that the two love birds never hook up. https://t.co/HgZKJoodw2
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) December 8, 2017
ICYMI:
Bobby Three Sticks playing five steps ahead
THE BEAT WITH ARI MELBER 12/7/17
Ari Melber breaks story on Mueller’s path around Trump pardon
MSNBC chief legal correspondent Ari Melber reports on how Mueller’s Flynn deal includes a rarely used legal tool to avoid Trump pardon
This is some crazy azz shyt!
Republican social conservative latest to resign from Congress
12/08/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
When Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) announced yesterday that he’s stepping down, he became the third member of Congress in the last two months to resign under a cloud of controversy. What we didn’t know was that another resignation would soon follow.
Why Is the VA Hiding a PR Goldmine?
VA Secretary David Shulkin is suppressing his own book that highlights the agency’s success.
by Suzanne Gordon December 8, 2017
In January of this year, President Trump surprisingly named Dr. David Shulkin, a rare Obama administration holdover, to be secretary of Veterans Affairs. He ordered Shulkin to improve medical treatment for veterans, which Trump called “horrible, horrible, and unfair” during the Obama years.
On May 31, Shulkin trooped over to the White House to deliver his first “State of VA” address since his promotion to head the agency. Shulkin likened his agency “to a patient in bad, but improving, health…We are still in critical condition and require intensive care.” He pledged to tackle some of the agency’s pressing issues, such as the backlog of 90,000 disability claims, and the persistent problem of veteran suicides, which is estimated at 20 per day. Secretary Shulkin rated the performance of 14 out of 168 veterans hospitals as less than acceptable, and noted that Veteran Health Administration (VHA) infrastructure was “increasingly falling into disrepair.”
Yet, what went unmentioned at Shulkin’s White House briefing—or anywhere else apparently—was the findings of a book, published a month later, by the VA itself. Titled Best Care Everywhere, and co-edited by Shulkin, this 440-page compilation of clinical case studies hails the VHA’s little-publicized role as an incubator for “real change” in treatment methods.
Shulkin dedicates this well-documented book to America’s “men and women in uniform,” and thanks Washington Monthly senior editor Phillip Longman, author of Best Care Anywhere: Why VA Health Care Would Work Better for Everyone—from whose 2012 book he borrowed his title—for showing “us that the VA provides some of the best health care anywhere and who inspired us to disseminate our best practices and pursue the audacious goal of delivering the best care everywhere to our Veterans.”
In his introduction, Shulkin describes the way the VA is “changing veterans’ lives” and notes that “it takes an average of 17 years for new medical evidence to reach patients in clinic or at the bedside”—a problem that all health care systems are grappling with. Yet, according to Shulkin, “VA is leading American health care in fixing it.”
Ginni Thomas Presented James O’Keefe With an Award
by Martin Longman December 7, 2017
So, this happened yesterday:
………………………
Fortunately, the Post’s reporters were vigilant and figured out the entire scheme before publishing any false information. But the effort was clearly concocted in an effort to discredit Moore’s accusers and to give substance to the accusation that the mainstream press is biased and untrustworthy. And this was in the service of getting a plausibly-accused child molester elected to the U.S. Senate.
For this, the wife of a Supreme Court Justice gave him an award. And not just any Supreme Court Justice. Clarence Thomas was also plausibly accused of inappropriate sexual behavior, which you may remember from his confirmation hearings
TRASH, both of them…
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/7/17
Glenn Simpson Fusion GPS Senate testimony approved for release
Rachel Maddow reports that the transcript of the testimony of Glenn Simpson, co-founder of Fusion GPS, the company that hired Dossier author Christopher Steele, is approved for public release as long as Chuck Grassley delivers on his promise to publish it.
HE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/7/17
Russian media report confirms cyber attack on US election
Rachel Maddow shares the details of a Russian media report that explains that the reason Russian intelligence cyber experts were arrested for treason a year ago is that they were the sources that helped the U.S. figure out who was responsible for the DNC hack.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/7/17
Another Trump official knew of Trump Tower Russian meeting: CNN
Rachel Maddow shares details of a CNN report that new e-mails show that Donald Trump Jr.’s Trump Tower meeting with Russians did have some follow-up that included Trump social media director Dan Scavino.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/7/17
Congressional ethics scandals roil both parties
Rachel Maddow reports on a spate of ethics scandals by members of Congress including Al Franken, John Conyers, Blake Farenthold, and Trent Franks, and one member, Devin Nunes, cleared by the ethics committee in what is likely to be bad news for the productivity of Trump Russia investigation.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 12/7/17
Judge in Mike Flynn case recuses himself
Rachel Maddow reports that the judge in the Mike Flynn case has recused himself, and depending on the reason, Republicans trying to undermine the Trump Russia investigation will likely latch onto this development.
Republicans Are Frantically Trying to Find an Alternative to Corey Stewart vs Tim Kaine
Exclusive: Email shows effort to give Trump campaign WikiLeaks documents
CNN Digital Expansion DC Manu RajuJeremy Herb
By Manu Raju and Jeremy Herb, CNN
Updated 8:00 AM ET, Fri December 8, 2017
Washington (CNN)Candidate Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and others in the Trump Organization received an email in September 2016 offering a decryption key and website address for hacked WikiLeaks documents, according to an email provided to congressional investigators.
The September 4 email was sent during the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race — two months after the hacked emails of the Democratic National Committee were made public and one month before WikiLeaks began leaking the contents of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta’s hacked emails.
The email came less than three weeks before WikiLeaks itself messaged Trump Jr. and began an exchange of direct messages on Twitter. Trump Jr. told investigators he had no recollection of the September email.
God help us. This video was just released. Warning – this is an execution.
Horrific execution!
Where and when did this happen? Is the officer going to be investigated?
Daniel Shaver: Police officer not guilty of murder
3 hours ago
A police officer charged with the murder of an unarmed man in the US state of Arizona has been found not guilty.
Philip Brailsford shot and killed 26-year-old Daniel Shaver in the hallway of a hotel in early 2016.
Bodycam footage of the incident, released after the verdict, showed Mr Shaver on his knees asking officers not to shoot him just before he was killed.
Mr Brailsford was acquitted of murder and a lesser manslaughter charge.
Mr Shaver was shot five times with a semi-automatic rifle as he crawled towards the officers, sobbing.
Prosecutors argued that the officer had responded appropriately, according to his training, when Mr Shaver reached towards his waistband – because he believed there was a concealed firearm there.
Mr Shaver was confronted by police responding to a report of a man pointing a gun out of his hotel room window in January 2016.
The police report said he showed guests in his hotel room a rifle he used for work, killing birds.
It later emerged that the rifle was an airsoft or pellet gun, rather than a genuine firearm.
…
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42277309
Lord Jesus. I can’t take this…
Yeah, what I read is that Daniel Shaver was in the pest control business. He’s got this air rifle he’s going to use to shoot birds that get indoors. He’s got some people in his motel room, he’s showing them the air rifle, someone outside calls the cops and says a guy is pointing a gun to the outside.
Well, it’s clear that Daniel was scared sh!tless and trying to comply without getting killed.
It was a horrible way to die.
I appreciate the info, Liza.
So heartbreaking.
(If you try lying on your stomach with your legs crossed and then put your hands in front of you and try to get into a kneeling position. I just discovered that it puts all your weight on just one knee and causes you to lean a bit to the side. )
Police are using humans for target practice. It’s madness.
LarryO was not pleased with the Democrats with regards to Franken.
Lawrence on the historical context of Sen. Franken’s resignation http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/watch/lawrence-on-the-historical-context-of-sen-franken-s-resignation-1112060483779
Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄
Right now I am livid at @TheDemocrats. Always effing things up. They did it in 2010, 2014 and ran Democrats distancing themselves from a successful Potus, making ads saying “I Am Not Barack Obama”. I am seething at them. Stupid mofos!
Sen Franken was the best senator we had. And he is gone. Not one in the senate can compare to him. At this moment I despise @TheDemocrats as much as I despise that fraud in the WH. I can’t express on Twitter what I really want to say and I have a boatload of words for them.
Same.
Roy Moore is polling ahead of Doug Jones but Nate Silver of 538 is saying that Doug Jones is “within a polling error”, so it’s close.
After all this, we could end up with Roy Moore in the Senate and an unpredictable open election in 2018 in Minnesota.
Will they ever learn?
Good morning, everyone!
Happy Friday, SDG2 & 3 Chics Family!
How’s the snow, lady?
Good morning. Snow is melting. But it was fun to see it.