tom moody

Salon magazine Trumpalooza

Comments Off on Salon magazine Trumpalooza

Just to remind myself in future years how awful Campaign 2016 became after Sanders rolled over, I copied all the headlines currently on the front page of San Francisco-based online rag, Salon, that dealt with the Evil Boogeyman of the hour, Donald Trump. This coverage sells magazines, and sells the supposed lesser-evil candidate, who has so many negatives she can only win by demonizing her opponent well beyond his own obvious negatives.
So here is a collection of mediocre headline writing in the service of bald propaganda, a kind of Day in the Life in Hell of 21st Century journalism. Hard to believe but each of these headlines has an associated article, that you are expected to read!

[photos of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Trump]
Trump's illegal & insane plan
Donald Trump's "extreme" immigration plan is pretty clearly illegal, and GOP leaders need to answer for it

[photo of Trump]
It’s not Bernie backers: If the U.S. elects Trump, this is who is responsible
It’s convenient to blame Berners for a possible Trump win, but they are the last ones responsible for this mess

[photos of Trump and Trevor Noah]
Trevor Noah on Katrina Pierson: “I really feel bad for her and all of Donald Trump’s surrogates”
"CNN should hire her — that's what they should do," Noah said

[photo of Charlie Sykes]
The danger of the right’s noise machine: Years of misinformation led to Trump’s rise
"Where do you go to have any sense of the truth?" right-wing radio host Charlie Sykes told MSNBC

[photo of Trump]
Trump’s voter intimidation plan: Deploying poll watchers to fight nonexistent voter fraud is a November dirty trick
Trump's camp is calling for "monitors" at polling places to ensure "Crooked" Hillary doesn't rig the election

[photo of Trump]
Of psychopaths and presidential candidates: To what degree do modern candidates resemble psychopaths?
Analysis shows where some of this year's aspirants rank on a standard assessment of psychopathic traits

[photo of Clinton and Trump]
Sad! Breitbart commissions poll to unskew “mainstream media filter,” still finds Trump losing to Clinton
So much for claims of media bias -- even Trump's biggest media booster has Clinton beating him nationally

[photos of Trump and Stephen King]
“If Jesus were around today, he’d turn Trump out with the rest of the money-changers”: Stephen King’s anti-Trump Twitter campaign hasn’t lost steam
America's most prolific author and perhaps Trump's most entertaining Twitter critic never manages to disappoint

[photo of Paul Manafort]
Trump campaign lashes out at New York Times following report of cash payments from Ukraine to top aide, Paul Manafort
Even former Trump campaign head Corey Lewandowski tweeted a story on Manafort‘s work with the former pro-Putin ally

[photo of Trump]
Trump walks back claim Obama “founded” ISIS, says its rise “a direct result of policy decisions made by” administration
The GOP nominee reiterated his call to ban immigrants from "volatile regions," coining the term "extreme vetting"

[photos of Trump and Betsy McCaughey]
Team Trump is a disaster: It’s not just the candidate — his entire staff is ill-equipped for a presidential campaign
Trump has filled out his economic policy team with a long list of wealthy donors and female right-wing cranks

[photo of Trump]
The Trump vote: New data reveals hints as to who is most likely to pull the lever for Trump
A new Gallup analysis undermines some assumptions about Trump voters, and confirms that race plays a huge role

[photo of Trump]
The GOP after Trump: Don’t kid yourself — another candidate with his destructive platform can rise again
Even if Donald Trump is defeated, the xenophobic and bigoted goals of Trumpism will live on

[photo of Trump]
Donald the Terrible: If Trump had a selfie stick, we’d all be in the picture
Trump is the modern incarnation of Narcissus — a terrible-to-behold mirror image of America’s worst public face

Inside the Croculus

Comments Off on Inside the Croculus

oculus500

The Oculus -- or, the Croculus, in honor of its slit eye design and reptilian vibe -- is filling up with high-end mall stores. Breitling, Hugo Boss, Mont Blanc, etc.

When it first opened, grey panels lined the walls where future stores would be. It was so creepy and sterile (if spectacular) that the Port Authority hung an enormous American flag inside the vault, spoiling the architect's design but warming up the mood and reminding us that We Are Still At War. The flag disappeared as the mall stores began opening, giant photos of bony fashion models being a good-enough equivalent of Old Glory. Orcs are currently erecting some kind of giant bandshell/kiosk thing inside the vault. If the idea is to have music in there, the acoustics will probably be horrendous. Will keep you posted.

Update: The bandshell/kiosk thing was erected for a Grand Opening event for the Croculus. Some kind of terrible live R&B/jazz/lounge group boomed inaudibly in the interior. If you walked in to hear the music you were greeted with signs saying this was a public event and you consented to any use of your likeness captured by photo or video. People packed under the dome seemed to be enjoying themselves. Food was on sale courtesy of Pret a Manger.

Here they are setting up for the event (via AM NY):

croculus_grand_opening_via_amNY

one day in the wall street area

Comments Off on one day in the wall street area

Tourist (with some English): Excuse me, can you tell me where is the boal?
Sane American: Sorry, the what?
Tourist: The bull...
Sane American: Oh, the bull! It's about three blocks up that way.
Tourist: What do you call it, exactly?
Sane American: "The Wall Street Bull." It's stupid. It's a stupid statue.
Tourist: (laughs) Maybe it will make me lucky.
Sane American: Then don't go anywhere near it.