DramatistDreamer

Seems like Chung kept his head, self-belief and focus. I'm happy for him too. The finals was basically the only match I saw out of the entire tournament. The NextGenATP even didn't get much chatter online overall. It seemed like Coric threw in the towel once he lost that semifinal but I had heard that Shapovalov had injured himself. I'm not sure whether that is true or not though. Sloane's gonna Sloane. I didn't see any of today's Fed Cup rubbers but I saw some pictures of Sloane with a wrapped thigh or knee. I know that lots of other players have won matches, even tournaments while their thighs or arms were wrapped, so I'm getting the same feeling about Sloane that I had when she was in Asia-- that basically she was ready to shut down her season after the the U.S. Open.

And lest we forget that it is not just Hollywood, a reminder. They Quietly Left the Church, but the Sexual Abuse Continued

LMAO

Corey Haim's Mother Names the Man She Alleges Sexually Abused Her Son

So bad for so many reasons! Since Takei is very connected on social media I now wonder what statement he will tweet in response. While I realize he has a large fanbase, I was never gaga over him but I am very disappointed, especially since he cast himself as a voice for so many people. Honestly, when I saw his name trending, I thought it could be one of two things. You can probably guess the first but the world we live in today, my second immediate thought was sexual harassment. Ugh.

I didn't see the quote in there about welcoming the U.S. back but an interesting article nonetheless. Looks like the TPP intends to try to get into motion before the RCEP can launch. Sounds like more geopolitical rivalry withing the Asia-Pacific region.

You know what? I think that might have been Shinzo Abe of Japan who said it (don't quote me though). The timing of that declaration by the TPP member group is very fascinating though...the fact that it was done while Trump has been in Asia, I doubt that's a coincidence. Trump spent a lot of time kowtowing to China, which has never been part of the TPP to begin with, this could've had an effect on the TPP member countries, almost all of which have some type of tension or disagreement with China. Abe may have been voted down on his earlier statement by member countries or he himself might have decided to forgo the possibility of trying to leave any pathway open for a Trump-led U.S. (or he may even have been speaking of a U.S. after Trump is gone).

Oh, I'm not at all saying the Democratic Party has lacked for disagreeing factions. Way before Bernie Bros, you had the Blue Dog Dems, who leaned more to the right, even disagreeing with Moderate Democrats, let alone the Liberal Faction. Those disagreements were generally worked through behind closed doors. It is a new era though but most people have seen where those squabbles have led us to, a Trump WH, which is its own form of chastening and punishment. But I find the GOP fascinating in terms of the breadth and depth that they have come apart since the dramatic way the Tea Party rode in with that crazy guy on CNBC standing in the middle of the stockroom floor and yelling the Tea Party manifesto at the top of his lungs . Interesting how the GOP was able to unify around their opposition to Obama but are scattered and squabbling when it's been their time to govern. It's almost the exact opposite of the Democrats who were surprisingly unified enough to pass some surprisingly significant legislation when they were the party in power. It's also interesting how Donna Brazile is currently being treated. This may have something to do with her gender, color and that fact that she has been at the helm of a losing campaign before (Al Gore) but she is really being spoken of and treated as a turncoat who is attempting to sow further discord for her personal gain. In any case, it seems like she's missed the moment to seize on any zeitgeist of Dems spatting, that's no longer headline news to use. It's mostly about the discord within the "party of values" that aren't...really, about values.

Welcomed back to the Paris Climate Accord? Or the TPP? Because I think the welcome is contingent on a demonstrated commitment. This doesn't mean unfettered access to talks and final negotiation sessions between countries that have actually signed on. I could see where some countries wouldn't want the U.S. present unless they signed on, it might be disruptive to the process of hammering out all the details and benchmarks.

By the way, the U.S. is the only country that is not apart of the Paris Climate Accord. Even Syria has signed on. I also read that several African countries have stated that they want to bar the U.S. from having access to the talks. Now there is this.

Taylor seems to be playing well this week. I can remember when Schmiedlova was considered an up and comer with serious potential. I think she even went on a mini-winning streak on the WTA Tour years ago.

JMO but I think that like ISIS, the GOP is most likely to deteriorate from the within the organization with infighting between various factions. I read another article several weeks ago hypothesizing on the cause and method of ambush on the U.S. and Nigerien soldiers and Niger and this article bears some of that out but the details of what happened to what happened to them, especially Sgt. Johnson, are especially grim. U.S. soldier in Niger ambush was bound and apparently executed, villagers say It appears that the mission changed along the way and there were a series of miscalculations committed, including the decision for the soldiers to extend their stay in the area and sleep along the Mali-Niger border, a particularly dangerous area that left them vulnerable to ambush by the jihadist militants.

Anthony Edwards discusses his molestation. Anthony Edwards Writes About Sexual Molestation At Hand Of Gary Goddard

I don't think the GOP has a choice on Moore. The deadline to replace him on the ballot has already passed. This is not to say that the Republicans won't try to find a loophole to try to replace him anyway. You know they're feverishly trying to find that elusive loophole.

The Moore people are even trying to cite the so-called "Obama-Hillary Clinton machine" (really?) getting the media to churn out this story and they're using it as a fundraising talking point!! Mind you, this man hasn't denied these charges. He's just looking for someone to blame for making it public. Yuck and the people caping for this disgusting person are equally awful. Interesting article about how people within the Department of Homeland Security, namely acting head of the department, is pushing back against pressure from General Kelly to end protected status from deportation of certain immigrant groups. White House Pressed Unsuccessfully to End Immigration Program

“THEY’RE IN A WORLD OF [!@#$%^&*]”: IVANKA AND JARED’S FIRST YEAR IN WASHINGTON HAS NOT GONE AS EXPECTED They're flopping--it's what they deserve.

I haven't seen those yet. Probably because I have clearer memories of those years than I have of '85.

Thanks for posting that June 1985 episode @Nothin'ButAttitude. Despite the video and audio "noise", it was an interesting episode. I can appreciate how cute Dusty and Lily are in this episode. Nowadays, soap writers cannot seem to write teenagers in any age appropriate manner. I think these scenes are decently done, it's not so much the dialogue but Brian Bloom and Martha Byrne are just professionals at pulling it off. That part about Shannon telling Dusty how she believes Lily is crazy about him, which segues into Madonna's Crazy For You was a bit 'on the nose' but there was a nice transition to Marcy listening on her headphones (presumably to the same song). Those scenes with Tom and Stuart seemed to drag. Perhaps those scenes were meant to be viewed in tandem with earlier episodes showing the entire storyline. It may have been the age of the video and the accompanying noise that took me out of things. Bob and John have such great combative chemistry, it makes me sad that we missed out on them butting heads over Dr. Hope Dixon who has chosen Bob as her mentor while she completes her residency at Memorial. One thing I can say about the years that Finn and Scott played their roles, I appreciate how their characters, Sierra and Craig were treated as equals. In fact, in some instances, Sierra was shown to be the more stoic of the two. I know some guys thought that this made Craig look like a wimp but I think that the mostly female audience probably watched and appreciated this type of balance of power in a relationship. It's always weird to me to still see Lyla sort of pining for John in a way that she was portrayed as jealous of Shannon, especially seeing that Lyla and John were a long way from being in an actual romantic relationship. I'm glad that the writers would eventually dispense with that side-story.

You're right about that.

The story that NYT and others have been working on about Louis C.K. Not sure how many of these I can read and still stomach, TBH. Louis C.K. Crossed a Line Into Sexual Misconduct, 5 Women Say

Images of women running for elected office in earnest.

I have next to no regard for them, TBH and I think the other purpose is to show that the Democratic party is wasting their time in courting these folks. I hope that message becomes abundantly clear.