Lola (Mono 'Cherry Cola' Single Version)
The Kinks
3:51 PM
Dancing in the Dark
Bruce Springsteen
3:47 PM
Can't You See
The Marshall Tucker Band
3:41 PM
Let's Dance
David Bowie
3:37 PM
Fat Bottomed Girls
Queen
3:33 PM
Pinball Wizard
The Who
3:26 PM
Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac
3:23 PM
Shake It Up
The Cars
3:19 PM
I Shot the Sheriff
Eric Clapton
3:15 PM
Pink Houses
John Mellencamp
3:10 PM
Stairway to Heaven
Led Zeppelin
3:02 PM
Our first cover as a fearsome foursome. Can't wait to show the grandkids ❤️❤️❤️ Love you @glamourmag! https://t.co/MOVll3svXP pic.twitter.com/gFvD5QFPTN
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) January 3, 2017
This is pure joy and my favorite share: a priceless reaction of deaf baby boy hearing his mom's voice for first time pic.twitter.com/RIRkf14ypN— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) December 30, 2016
Senate Republicans wasted no time Tuesday setting in motion their plan to repeal President Barack Obama’s signature health care law.More.
GOP senators intend to strike large portions of the law while avoiding the threat of a Democratic filibuster through a procedural gambit that expedites Senate consideration of the repeal bill.
But Democrats aren’t going down without a fight.
On Tuesday, Senate Budget Chairman Michael B. Enzi started the process known as reconciliation. A fiscal 2017 budget resolution the Wyoming Republican unveiled on the first day of the 115th Congress includes instructions to two House and two Senate committees to craft legislation reducing the deficit by $1 billion over the next ten years.
To do so, those committees will draft bills repealing portions of the health care law. Senate debate is not subject to cloture, meaning 60 votes are not required to end debate. Republicans, with their 52-seat majority, will be able to advance the repeal without needing any Democratic defections.
One of the committees with jurisdiction is Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the panel’s chairman, GOP Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee said Tuesday that any repeal bill will be crafted “carefully.” Lawmakers have until Jan. 27 to draft the measures.
But before then, Democrats plan to put Republicans on the record regarding certain provisions of the 2010 health care law.
Senate Minority Whip Richard J. Durbin said Democrats plan to offer health-related provisions when the Senate votes on amendments to the budget resolution. A marathon vote series known as a vote-a-rama is expected next week...
There will continue to be a lot of flailing [after Trump's election], a lot of wailing and abuse. But among the many things that changed during the early hours of November 9 was a cultural dispensation that had been with us since at least the 1960s, the smug, "progressive" (don't call it "liberal") dispensation that had insinuated itself like a toxic fog throughout our cultural institutions — our media, our universities, our think tanks and beyond. So well established was this set of cultural assumptions, cultural presumptions, that it seemed to many like the state of nature: just there as is a mountain or an expanse of ocean. But it turns out it was just a human, all-too-human fabrication whose tawdriness is now as obvious as its fragility.RTWT.
What we are witnessing is its dissolution. It won't happen all at once and there are bound to be pockets of resistance. But they will become ever more irrelevant even if they become ever shriller and more histrionic. The anti-Trump establishment is correct that what is taking place is a sea change in our country. But they are wrong about its purport. It is rendering them utterly irrelevant even as it is boosting the confidence, strength, and competence of the country as a whole. Glad tidings indeed...
The burning question in the media has been whether Mr. Trump or public outcry deserve credit for the GOP’s about-face. In any case, House Republicans will pay a political price for trying, then failing, to rush through ethics changes—after running on draining the D.C. swamp. By caving so precipitously at the first sign of opposition, they’ve also invited more such pressure campaigns.RTWT.
The upshot is an embarrassing start for a new GOP Congress that is supposed to be stalwart for pursuing conservative reform no matter the opposition. Progressives are elated that their Trump “resistance” project notched a victory and will continue the fact-free outrage campaigns. If you think the political pressure is intense on ethics rules, wait until the left completes its nationwide talent search for the person most harmed by the GOP’s health-care proposals. Mr. Trump will also figure he can rout any opposition with a tweet, not that he’s known for restraint.
The shame is that a review of the ethics office is overdue, much as due-process rights have suffered under the Obama Administration—from college campus show trials to bankrupting legal companies. Maybe Congress can restore its own due-process guarantees after it does something for everyone else’s.
As cops retreat under political pressure, homicides rise 57% in Chicago: https://t.co/6kphDZJnRY
— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) January 3, 2017
Former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy told CBS’s “60 Minutes” this weekend that the increase in paperwork has taken time away from proactive policing and made officers more reluctant to stop suspicious individuals. According to CBS, the number of stops declined from 49,257 in August 2015 to 8,859 a year later while arrests fell by a third to 6,900. While current Superintendent Eddie Johnson denied that police were retreating, he noted at a press conference this weekend that anger at police has “emboldened” criminals. He also blamed lax enforcement of Chicago’s strict antigun laws.RTWT.
All of this suggests that the demonization of cops has contributed to Chicago’s surge of violence, with the principal victims being young minorities, many of them innocent bystanders. Perhaps the President could include an elegy for these black lives in his farewell.
With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2017
WASHINGTON—House Republicans on Tuesday dropped their effort to curb the independence of a nonpartisan ethics board after a fierce backlash to it eclipsed other news on the first day of the new session of Congress.Still more.
Meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday, House Republicans unanimously decided to scrap their effort to place the independent Office of Congressional Ethics under the oversight of the House Ethics Committee, a move that would leave lawmakers policing themselves. That move, announced late Monday night, drew swift pushback from government-watchdog groups, Democrats and some Republicans, who heard from angry constituents about the proposal.
President-elect Donald Trump, in tweets Tuesday mornings, questioned the timing of the move over other congressional priorities.
“It’s like a circular firing squad—our first day here and we’re passing around the handgun,” lamented Rep. Rod Blum (R., Iowa).
As criticism mounted Tuesday, Republicans decided midday to abandon the measure for now, though lawmakers said they would try to advance changes to the ethics watchdog later this year. Lawmakers have raised concerns over the board, including objections that it makes complaints against them public.
House Republicans meeting Monday night had approved, by a 119-74 vote, the amendment from House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R., Va.) to a package of new House rules. Both House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) had objected to the amendment, urging a bipartisan approach to changing the office.
It wasn’t clear that the rules package would have had the votes to pass, given that it was likely to garner no support from Democrats, and some Republicans objected to the ethics amendment.
In two tweets Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump seemed to express sympathy with the move on its merits, calling the watchdog office “unfair.” But he said, “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it…may be, their number one act and priority.” He added that he would prefer a focus on issues “of far greater importance!”
The Office of Congressional Ethics serves as the chamber’s independent ethics watchdog by reviewing allegations against House members and staff. It is governed by an eight-person board of private citizens who don’t work for the government...
An ending, and a new beginning... pic.twitter.com/clyKaDpQTW— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 3, 2017
Thank you for watching. With love... pic.twitter.com/0MjyVl6vAe— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) January 4, 2017
Megyn Kelly's wholly unsurprising decision to leave Fox News to join NBC leaves a void at the network where she spent the past 12 years, and perhaps nudges the cable news juggernaut in a new direction — while opening the door for media rivals.An interesting piece.
Kelly confirmed her job change in a message Tuesday on Twitter after it was first reported by the New York Times.
Already a cable news star before the 2016 election cycle began, Kelly became a household name as she remained poised amid nasty attacks by Donald Trump, who objected to her line of questioning at the first Republican primary debate. Last January, Fox News's then-chairman, Roger Ailes, rejected Trump's demand that the network replace Kelly as a moderator of the second debate, even as the billionaire threatened to boycott the event — which he did.
When former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson accused Ailes of sexual harassment in a lawsuit in July, prompting 21st Century Fox to launch an investigation, Kelly shared her own claim of harassment by Ailes, who resigned later that month.
From then on, Kelly seemed to be viewed as a traitor by some Ailes loyalists who remained at Fox News. Sean Hannity called her a Hillary Clinton supporter in October. Bill O'Reilly criticized Kelly's decision to air dirty laundry in a book released in November.
“If somebody is paying you a wage, you owe that person or company allegiance,” O'Reilly told CBS News. “You don't like what's happening in the workplace? Go to human resources or leave. I've done that. And then take the action you need to take afterward if you feel aggrieved. There are labor laws in this country. But don't run down the concern that supports you by trying to undermine it.”
Kelly's departure from Fox News appeared inevitable. But now that it is here, it is worth considering the effect on cable news...
How close is USC to winning a national championship? https://t.co/bXTgflhfqk— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) January 4, 2017
.@ColinCowherd on Sam Darnold: "I think it's the best quarterback I've ever seen at USC." pic.twitter.com/hw8a8OiWTd— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) January 3, 2017
In a boisterous corridor outside the winning locker room following a classic Rose Bowl game on Monday evening, Lynn Swann, USC’s athletic director, was asked if the win meant the Trojans were back at the top of college football.More.
"No, if we were back at the top of the national landscape, we'd be playing on Monday, January 9th,” Swann said, referring to the national championship game. “We're not there yet. It's a building process.”
USC’s nine straight wins, its sizable chunk of returning talent and its quarterback, Sam Darnold, will likely thrust the Trojans into the national championship hunt next season. So, how close are they to being capable of winning it?
In short, they’re two offensive tackles, one linebacker, one defensive tackle and a couple receivers away. The return of a couple playmakers — receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and cornerback and return specialist Adoree’ Jackson — wouldn’t hurt either.
Whether USC can effectively plug those holes will determine whether it is a playoff or national championship team next season.
One player has elevated expectations to such levels: Darnold, who as a freshman set Rose Bowl records with five touchdown passes and 473 yards of total offense in a 52-49 victory over Penn State. It seems a foregone conclusion that he will begin next season as a Heisman Trophy front-runner. The hype is already stratospheric.
The morning after USC’s Rose Bowl victory, ESPN was teasing to a commercial with questions such as: "Will Sam Darnold be as good as Vince Young? We'll debate, next."
One his radio show, Colin Cowherd said Darnold is “the best quarterback I've ever seen at USC.” Darnold, he said, reminded him of Andrew Luck and Brett Favre.
Darnold deserves to be praised, but no team can win with one player alone. Much attention in the coming days will be given to Jackson and Smith-Schuster, who will decide whether to enter the NFL draft or return for their senior seasons. Both have said that coming back to compete for a national championship is attractive. But both are considered high-round draft prospects.
After the game, Smith-Schuster said he would “take about a few days” to make his decision. Jackson was noncommittal. “I don't know,” he said. “I'm out here living in this moment.”
The focus on Jackson and Smith-Schuster obscures what might be more impactful losses: offensive tackles Chad Wheeler and Zach Banner.
Unlike at cornerback, where there is a replacement, Jack Jones, waiting in the wings, or at receiver, where Darnold prefers to spread the ball around to many options, there are no clear replacements at tackle, where mistakes can be magnified.
Matt Boermeester's field goal caps wild comeback, lifts USC over Penn State in an American beauty of a Rose Bowl https://t.co/EvkcWpHUnf
— L.A. Times Sports (@latimessports) January 3, 2017
Clay Helton looks a little misty eyed. pic.twitter.com/4OBH7nHMhN
— Zach Helfand (@zhelfand) January 3, 2017
Here is happy Clay Helton and happy Sam Darnold. pic.twitter.com/5D5fGq61yB
— Zach Helfand (@zhelfand) January 3, 2017
The enormity of it all seemed to stun USC Coach Clay Helton. Some fans had called for Helton’s job after USC started his first full season 1-3. After Monday’s game, he stood atop confetti with an arm around his son, Turner, his eyes a little wet as he watched the band.More.
“It felt like a tennis match, just going back and forth and back and forth, the mood swings and the emotion,” Helton said. “It was an amazing game. It’s what fairy tales are made of.”
Penn State Coach James Franklin conceded that it “may have been the most exciting Rose Bowl game ever.”
He had a point. Penn State’s Saquon Barkley ran 25 times for 194 yards and two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass.
Darnold passed for 453 yards with one interception and five touchdowns, a Rose Bowl game record. His total yards of 473 set another record, breaking Vince Young’s 467 in 2006 against USC.
Darnold stood near Helton as the band played, and he looked as though he had just awoken from a nap. USC players said they couldn’t remember a time when they’ve seen him rattled.
As he huddled the offense with 1:59 to play, USC down by seven points and 80 yards to go, his voice was calm.
“I just said, ‘Do your job,’” Darnold said.
USC's greatest Rose Bowl win in one of greatest Rose Bowls ever https://t.co/8MUtSliDYK— Bill Plaschke (@BillPlaschke) January 3, 2017
Gwen Stefani unveiled as the new face of Revlon https://t.co/xSBFfKwccv pic.twitter.com/cKpC1hhmFa— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) January 2, 2017
Our Megyn Kelly story has been updated w/ comments from her, NBC, and how Fox broke the story on air: https://t.co/WLYJo34Y03— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) January 3, 2017
Also, all over Memeorandum.Update: @MegynKelly spokeswoman says she WILL host her show tonight... Her last day on Fox will be this Friday https://t.co/R5l5mS2MAv— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 3, 2017
Penn State and USC entered on a combined 17-game winning streak. The Lions and Trojans both hadn’t lost since the weekend of Sept. 23-24, when USC lost at Utah and Penn State lost at Michigan. Both had been a buzzsaw ever since, and they only missed the Playoff because they got started just a little too late this season.And at USA Today:
The Trojans capped their brilliant run in style, finishing the year 10-3 after a 1-3 start. They’ll be a popular Playoff pick heading into next season, and the emergence of Clay Helton as a really smart-looking head coach hire now has another chapter...
#USC rallies to edge #PennState in wild #RoseBowl. #USCFootball #FightOn #BeatTheLions #NittanyLions https://t.co/zg7D6b5Fl1— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 3, 2017
.@LindseyThiry Still lots of time Darnold's the kind of QB to make things happen. Defense needs to settle down. #FightOn #RoseBowl #Trojans— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) January 3, 2017
