DramatistDreamer

Sloane Stephens withdraws from Brisbane and The Australian Open. Honestly, last month somebody had to remind me that Stephens hadn't played since August because I simply lost track of her. Knowing that, plus this latest news regarding her foot-- is 'concerning', to say the least.

There was no way I was getting up at 4am to watch but congratulations to Grisha for winning Brisbane. I read that it's been three years, so that must have been an emotional win. I read that Kei's hip gave way...no surprises there. Anyhoo, the first interesting result of the year--I'm not paying much attention to Novak vs. Andy part 6 thousand.

So, Trump's cabinet picks are dodging the Government Ethics office? They won't submit their paperwork. This is going to be one extremely messy administration! ETA: Not to mention, yet another person in Trump's millieu is being called out for plagiarism- this time his pick for National Security advisor, Monica Crowley.

I saw that documentary when it aired on PBS, it was very good, you should be proud!

I've only watched the first episode. I'm a notoriously poor binge-watcher. I like what I see so far and hope to squeeze in another episode sometime later.

The show is not big belly-laugh type of humor (and neither was the original, TBH), but I did enjoy it. I especially enjoyed the take on the quinceañera, such a novel approach to have the teen daughter, Elena resistant to it, seeing it as part of a patriarchal system and the Mother, Penelope finally convincing her to participate as it would actually be a way for her to present herself as the pride of her single mother's successful effort to raise a wonderful daughter. I really liked that aspect and of all the shows I've ever seen featuring a Latina that had a 'quince', I've never seen that take! I also liked the aspect that while Elena, at first, resisted her quinceañera, Penelope resisted taking anti-depressants for her PTSD. The show managed some heavy topics with humor, without going preachy or saccharine. Somehow it was comforting to see that this ODAAT had their own Schneider, who kind of seemed like a hipster. Rita Moreno is adorable as abuelita Lydia- that part when she came in to 'spoon' her daughter was laugh out loud funny! The entire cast is adorable, in fact! In an interview, Moreno said that Lear (who she loving called an 'old fart') is very much involved in this new series, and this new iteration's connection to the original is evident and pretty well done. I also genuinely like how the theme song has been customized to this series. I can only see this series doing well as long as they continue to take on issues in a way that is both humorous and smart. How interesting that Netflix (along with shows like Frankie and Gracie) is becoming a true destination for multi-generational programming, especially when it comes to series programming.

Chinese cities have some of the dirtiest air on God's green planet, although New Dehli, India is now running neck and neck in that category. Part of the Chinese social contract that it had with its people was 'You work in the factories, be industrious, work hard to make lots of products and we vault your economic status into the middle class, even some will get wealthy as long as you don't question us and quell the human rights and democracy chatter'. As with any group of people who begin to earn more money, are able to buy more things (including technology which lets them peer into the outside world, Great Firewalls, be damned), become better educated, if not by themselves, then through their children, there is the realization that the needs that must be met expand beyond the material. The desire for greater civil liberties also becomes a realization and grows. Sometimes this manifests itself in ways that appear, on the surface to be material- the factory workers at FoxConn that make iPhones, etc demand better wages and better hours, more time off, etc. The workers who have discovered the art of mass passive resistance (work stoppages, work slowdowns, etc) can assist their goals--this also affects the GDP of China, which has appeared to slow down a bit as the economy, while still growing, now grows at a slower rate. @DRW50 In regards to the Chinese economy stagnating, some of that is intentional. China has been forced to deal with its currency manipulation (a point of contention between their country and many other countries that China trades with) and that will affect GDP. As I mentioned above, Chinese workers were demanding higher salaries and better working conditions (including a more humane workday-shorter hours), so that's less productivity, less product being purchased by the likes of Apple, etc, less money going toward GDP. Even though workers may have a little more going into their pockets, many people in Asian countries tend to be savers, not spenders (contrasting with the U.S., which tends to do the opposite). Add to that, because Chinese workers are being paid more, Chinese factories must charge their clients more and in response, more of their clients have opted to move manufacturing to a "cheaper" country where salaries are still lower than China like Thailand or Vietnam, contributing to that lower economic output. Another factor is that China is trying to balance out its economy by not relying so heavily on manufacturing and factor labor and incorporate more service industry into its economy. Economists realize that China cannot continue to rely solely on making cheap goods, especially as workers and consumers demand a higher standard. They are trying to diversify. In response to this, President Xi has tried to institute "Chinese values", in an effort to steer Chinese workers away from materialism (that was part of that social contract). Also, probably in an effort to bring some missing money, Xi has gone on an 'anti-corruption' crusade, with mixed results, rooting out corruption- and possibly those who build their fortunes while hiding their money, sending it abroad to invest- which is money not being paid out in taxes. It's kind of a multi-pronged reason why China's economy has slowed down (I would not yet say totally stagnated, but definitely not growing at nearly the clip it once did).

I've been pretty much watching tennis via streaming over the last few years and so far, since this season began, I've been f*cked as a tennis fan. I don't know why the sport fails to get its act together when it comes to broadcast and streaming rights. @Soapsuds I thought you'd get a kick out of this illustration that includes Grigor, done by a wonderfully talented artist.

I agree, except, I would add the cable news networks in as well, notably CNN, which I stopped watching ages ago (except for when they livestream a hosted debate). I read that Kellyanne Conway also appeared on CNN this morning and words like "uhinged" are being used to describe her but unhinged, wild-eyed is what the slim majority of EC voters went for this election season.

Oh and this.

CBS This Morning's Charlie Rose went in on KellyAnne Conway this morning (finally!). It seems as though his questions were trying to both get answers (which Conway tried to evade) and impress upon Conway how serious it is that Trump still denies the weight of intelligence and documented evidence of Russian interference. Charlie Rose seemed quietly impatient. Even Nora O'Donnell, who I still believe is a Republican asked about the Border Wall and whether she believes that Trump broke a key campaign promise. I only saw the last few moments of this interview but Conway seemed a bit flustered, from what I managed to see.

Former CIA Director James Woolsey has quit the Trump transition team.

Sources: Trump will ask Congress, not Mexico, to pay for border wall

Have you guys seen this clip? Max Ehrich (Fen, Y&R) can truly carry a tune. Even more surprising. When I heard the name Rebecca Black, I immediately thought about that horrid Friday song. This is what she sounds like now.

Assange needs to face those rape charges he's been running from these past several years. Some of the people who started Wikileaks have broken with him and they use words like "cult of personality" and demagogue when referring to Assange and why they left. Hmm, some of the same terms some of us use to refer to the Orange Menace.

Very interesting article, especially when we reflect on the context surrounding this most recent Presidential election and the demographic narrative it produced. Someone, I think, columnist Charles Blow referenced this as "toxic masculinity". Why Men Don’t Want the Jobs Done Mostly by Women

Wow, I just did a quick google and that condition sounds like it ranges from a lot of discomfort to downright painful. I hope that your plan works out for you. @JaneAusten had some great advice, keep your local politicians accountable and perhaps if there is a community who can back you (maybe others in your state who suffer from the same ailment?) and friends, family to keep e-mailing, writing, calling--staying on top of your state, county legislators can be surprisingly effective if done consistently. Try not to stress, you have to try to do what you can to maintain your health and constant stress can make things worse (I've discovered this the hard way). Not going by what this man says but paying attention to his actions-- I must remind myself to keep doing this. Report: Trump hires politician who received illegal support from his charity

Speaking of Tweety-fingers (I prefer that to POTEUS), wasn't he supposed to give a lofty explanation of all the 'things' that he knew that the American public didn't? Wasn't he supposed to give this explanation on "uh, Tuesday or Wednesday"? Well, it's Thursday now. For what it's worth, I never bought this explanation narrative that was supposed to be forthcoming...allegedly.

The Spanish Hopman Cup team. What'chu got going on under those shorts, Feli?

There were rumors about this last season, but Sloane Stephens is working with "Big Sascha" Bajin who used to be Serena's hitting partner for years.

Yes, this I already know. He didn't get those jobs from Softbank for Sprint either but that didn't stop him from talking about it and then taking credit when those jobs were announced. My point is, why isn't Trump talking about it when his beloved Ivanka still has merchandise in those Macys stores? Exactly because he cannot do anything and he doesn't want to call attention to this. Retailers nationwide is closing stores (GNC, Aeropostale, etc) and jobs will be lost- probably more jobs than the coal industry- yet no one is talking about what will happen to those people.

And why isn't Trump trying to save the closing Macy's stores that sell his cheap ass ties?

According to this interview, no women of color in the Rockettes have signed up to perform at the upcoming Inauguration. My guess is there probably won't be any WOC there at all. A Rockette Speaks Out Maybe one of Omorosa's first duties will be to provide some "local color" to the Inauguration? Or maybe she is in charge of bribing the administrators of Talledega college, so that their marching band will play.

At the risk of living up to my name and sounding dramatic, it's tragic how, for many people, this is life and death yet some voters and politicians play it as if it were a game.

OMG! Pot legalization advocates plan to hand out joints during Trump’s inauguration in D.C., toke up during his speech