#on today's episode of fighting for my life for a less than optimal result

[xiaojuun]

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I thought about “Young Blood, Old Souls” from The Owl House

Salutations random people of the internet who probably won't read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons. Today, I am reviewing the season one finale of The Owl House. And by the way, there are zero dislikes that I have for this episode. Any issues I could have are either petty nitpicks, or just not worth talking about. So, for the first time ever, I'm going to share my thoughts unfiltered. No likes. No dislikes. Just my thoughts on why I think this episode turned out as great as it did. And in case you couldn't guess, there are going to be enormous spoilers for the finale itself, and The Owl House in general. So consider this your last warning as we dive in!

The opening narration: I'm a sucker for fairytale esque opening narrations in stories, and that's the feeling I got when watching this scene. Sure, you could say that it's an exposition dump that tells us stuff we already know, but I don't see it that way. I see it as a technique to set the mood of the episode, while also reminding us how much of a threat the Belos can be.

And again, let's ask ourselves: How much is accurate in this small history lesson, and which parts are made up by Belos? Because who's to say that he isn't the one who wrote the book that King is reading?

No intro: This. Was a shock.

Usually shows shorten the intro to it’s first and last portions, or at the very least, flash the opening logo. Never, to my knowledge, has a series straight-up drop both the intro and the logo. To me, that is a good sign of a great episode. Because no intro tells me that the writers had so much to put in, that they didn't want to waste a single second to even flash a logo.

Not that many jokes: The jokes were another appreciated, albeit well missed, absence within the episode. Because this is the season finale. An event that, depending on what show you make, needs to be taken seriously. And while I say that The Owl House is a comedy show with drama on the side, that doesn't mean it shouldn't focus on the drama if an episode calls for it. And an adventure where Luz has to save her mentor from an emperor who turns people to stone? Yeah. That's an experience where drama has to take center stage for the time being.

Luz is serious and angry: Don't get me wrong. I love Luz for her endless optimism and her ability to find fun in whatever situation she's in. But this is not the type of episode that requires that personality. If anything, I was happier to see Luz act more seriously rather than stick to her quirky personality. Because this proves that Luz isn't some oblivious goofball who can't see the darkness in the world. It shows that she understands when to be serious if the situation calls for it. This also reveals that not only can Luz get angry, but she can get downright vengeful. Her desire to make Lilith pay is not only understandable, but it's absolutely justified. Say what you want about her now, but what Lilith did to Luz in the last episode was awful. So I can't really blame her for getting angry at the mere sight of Lilith.

Now, if Luz were to remain with this angsty personality, then I would be less than ecstatic. But it seems pretty clear to me that angry Luz is a situation-dependent side of her personality that will only come out in the more dramatic episodes. This is evident with the fact that Luz's optimism returns after Eda comes back safe and sound. So while I came to enjoy angry Luz, I'm still going to prefer happy Luz any day.

Owl Beast Eda sticks her tongue out: I love the idea that this was a part of the real Eda shining through, just because the thought of Eda fighting a curse to get under Lilith's skin is just funny to me. And Lilith sticking her tongue out too was just icing on the cake.

Belos’ is still terrifying: That's it. That's all I have to say. We get even more of a glimpse of Belos' power, and it just cements how he's the most terrifying villain that Disney has made in years. Because I saw his fight with Luz (more on that later) as Belos holding back. Which makes me wonder: WHAT THE F**K IS IT GOING TO LOOK LIKE WHEN HE'S ALLOWED TO LET LOOSE?!

And if I'm being honest with you guys, I'm a little scared to find out the answer to that question.

Eda is partially the Owl Beast: This was a cheat, but an effective one. It gives Eda a chance to have actual speaking roles, while also nerfing her, so she doesn't escape. Would it have been more tragic if Eda spent the entire episode as an unintelligent monster? Maybe. But it also means Eda couldn't give Luz the portal (the most important thing in the finale) and not get to say goodbye to Luz (the most gut-wrenching scene in the finale). Say what you want about Eda being partially cursed, but I think it was a smart decision.

We meet Gus’ dad!: This might not seem like a big deal, but I certainly enjoyed it. Hell, I always appreciate it when I get to know more about the lives of characters in my favorite media. And finding out that Gus' dad is a news reporter? That's a nice reveal, even if it's not the most important thing to happen in the show.

Petrification: Sooooo, this is basically the death penalty. Let that sink in for a second. Because the world of this show, that's aimed for children, actually has a death penalty. Sure, the writers don't actually use the d-word. But turning people into stone with no way to turn them back? They might as well be dead at that point. And I actually like that The Owl House is allowed to go this dark. It raises the stakes much higher than any episode once we find out that Eda could die if Luz fails. And that's a thought I'm sure no one appreciates. Especially Luz.

Luz and King stepping on the grass: Hey, there may not be that many jokes in this episode, but that doesn't mean it isn't allowed to be hilarious. And, yeah, this got a huge laugh out of me. Both from how King and Luz look as they commit their "crime," and because of the guard's over-the-top reaction to it. It gets me everytime.

Warden Wrath’s high-pitched scream: Not much to say here other than I just thought it was funny. Because what also gets to me is when a "big scary character" does something pathetic like what Wrath did. And if you didn't hear his scream, go back to play this scene again. It's well worth it.

“Draw me a map!”: I don't know why I love this line so much. Maybe it's because Sarah-Nicole Robles' delivery made me laugh, or because it preemptively shuts up nitpickers who would ask how Luz knew where the detention center is. Either way, this was a great line.

Willow and Gus help...sort of: In the grand scheme of things, Willow and Gus didn't really do that much when helping Luz and Eda. Sure they got a crowd to chant about letting Eda go, but that effort didn't do anything to stop the petrification. Even that brief moment of standing up to the Emperor came to an end the second he showed up. Which means that it's an issue that Willow and Gus didn’t really help Luz, right? 

That would true if it wasn't for the fact that Willow and Gus didn't immediately jump at the idea of backing Luz up if she needs them. That makes these two the perfect best friends that Luz could ask for, solely on that loyalty alone. Would it have been better to see them fight alongside Luz? Maybe, but I doubt Luz would actually want her friends risking everything for her vendetta. Besides, I doubt Willow and Gus would really be that much help compared to how quickly Lilith dismissed both of them in the last episode. So while they get a C for contribution and efficiency, they get an A+ for loyalty in my book.

Eda’s goodbye to Luz: Oh, man. And I thought Eda's goodbye in "Agony of a Witch" was painful. This? This actually got me misty-eyed. And I think the reason why it's more heartbreaking this time around is that Eda is fully showing her emotions in this scene. In my "Agony of a Witch" review, I said that Eda was trying to hide how dire the situation from Luz by smiling and playing the thing off as no big deal. She fails because her eyes and her voice cracks give away all of her feelings, but she still tried nonetheless. This time, however, Eda makes it clear how serious the situation is with both her expressions and tone of voice. Probably because the last time she tried to be gentle with Luz, her apprentice threw herself into the lion's den. So as a result, it comes off as more heartbreaking, given the fact that Eda makes it clear how serious their predicament is. And the fact that she not only says a real goodbye to Luz but practically pushes her away?! Add that with the fact that they share "I love you's" to each other, and you got a scene that just tears at the heartstrings.

Luz crying again: NnnnnnnOPE!!!

I already said that the single image of Luz crying was enough to break me. So seeing her just break down and sob her eyes out is more than enough to hurt the soul, man!

IT HURTS DA SOUL!

“Talk to the glyph, WITCH!”: You know for a FACT that if Luz was allowed to swear, she would use a very similar sounding word to describe Lilith. And I love that implication!

Luz can’t do magic in the human realm: Woah boy! It was one thing when we all predicted it. But to now have visual confirmation that Luz cannot, in fact, do magic in the human realm? Let's just say that adds a whole new level of heartbreak for when Luz has to go home. As well as an overflowing amount of angsty fanfics that plays with that idea.

Lilith’s backstory: ...

*DEEP INHALE*

I will hold off Fredrick Ulisinsburg for now. For. NOW. Because while Lilith's actions are nowhere near justified...it is clear that she does regret her actions. Lilith said it herself. She thought the curse would last for at least a day, and in no way intended for it to be permanent. It's still crappy of her to willingly curse Eda at all, but at least she didn't want her sister to live a life of torture. Plus, there's a sense of tragedy given the fact that Eda wasn't going to fight Lilith anyway. Lilith underestimating how much Eda truly cares must have made the guilt set in even more. And I hope that the show explores that in season two. Because while I think Lilith is on the right track towards redemption, what she did was awful, and I want her to actually earn her forgiveness. Not just hand it out because of a few acts of kindness (more on that later).

(Also bonus points for that foreshadowing with the sharing-the-pain spell. I did not think it would come up again in the way that it did.)

Baby Eda: Must. Protect. Baby. Eda.

Amity’s parents(?): It's yet to be officially confirmed (to my knowledge) that those students in the bleachers are Amity's parents. But if they are, then it's awesome that The Owl House crew snuck this reveal in the finale. They didn't need to do that, but the fact that they did just make schmucks like me happy.

Luz briefly looking out into the forest: So much is said about Luz with just these few short seconds. The fact that she hesitates going back to the Isles tells me that she's wondering if she should. Because right now, Luz has an out. She could say goodbye to her problems and run home to mami, especially given the fact that that's what Eda wants her to do. Except Luz would never do that. Because Luz has proven time and time again that she will not back down when it comes to helping the people she loves. Eda, Willow, Amity. These are all characters that Luz would do anything and everything for if it meant they would be safe. But that doesn't mean she won't briefly get tempted to escape. So while this moment of hesitation shows that Luz can have times of selfishness, her almost immediately running back proves that she will always choose the path of selflessness.

Lilith willing to be a double agent: This was the first sign of Lilith working her way towards redemption. Her willingness to still work for the Emperor's Coven, and to change it from the inside, is pretty admirable. It's almost a shame that she gets caught almost immediately. Because I would have loved to have seen Lilith's attempts to work against the Emperor to protect Luz and Eda from getting arrested. Not only for character growth reasons but because it would actually strengthen her redemption by having Lilith willingly risk everything for the right people.

Luz vs Emperor Belos: I could have never expected this. At least, not so soon. I always assumed Luz would fight Belos at some point, most likely in the series finale. Never would I have expected this confrontation to happen in the first season. And man, oh, man, what a fight! I'm sure some people are gonna complain how easy it was for Luz to fight back, but to those people: I have a few things to point out.

First off, Belos' line of, "I'll play," tells me that he's going easy on Luz. Nothing he does really looks like it would hurt Luz too badly-at least by his standard. And to me, it seems like Belos is treating the fight in a similar way a teenager lets a toddler "challenge" them. Because when you compare Luz's frantic movements to Belos' calm and calculated ones, it is clear who's the better fighter in this battle.

Second, Luz doesn't do that much. Sure she chips his mask with an ice spell. But that's the equivalent of how Iron Man's finishing move on Thanos only resulted in "a drop of blood." Every other glyph Luz uses during this fight was to protect herself rather than fighting back. And the fact that she barely got a chance to fight back, when the Emperor was going easy on her? Let's just say that it makes me even more terrified for Luz's safety when round two inevitably happens.

Lastly, Luz is someone who has what I like to call: Percy-Jackson-Syndrome. A character who's a bumbling idiot seventy-five percent of the time, a surprisingly good strategist for fifteen percent, and terrifying when angry in the last ten. And Luz has shown in the past that she has a sense of quick wit and strategy when fighting powerful foes. Her plan to beat Willow's inner-self, as well as Luz's plan of escape from Otabin, are two examples that come to mind that prove this. So it's not too much of a stretch that Luz is still alive after fighting Belos, because the one time she got the upper hand was by outsmarting him.

So again, good fight, and I'm terrified for round two.

Luz destroys the portal: This was a heroic sacrifice I didn't see coming, even though I really should have. If you've been paying attention to the episode titles, you'll notice that the first letter of each title spells out the phrase, "A witch loses a true way." A lot of people have been speculating what this phrase could mean. Even I dipped my toe in theorizing the right answer. It turns out the people who thought Luz would lose a "true way" back home were correct. But I don't think anybody could have thought that it would be Luz who would take away her only way back home. Not only is Luz being the one to destroy the portal tragic, but this sacrifice shows how much Luz cares about Eda. Luz is willing to say goodbye to everything she knows, for who knows how long, just so Eda can be safe. Plus, it's another moment of Luz defeating her enemy by outsmarting him. Which teaches kids that you don't need to fight harder. You just need to fight smarter.

Lilith shares the curse: This is another sign that Lilith is on the right path. While I still wouldn't say that I forgive Lilith, I will say this sacrifice makes me want to at least consider it.

Belos is fixing the portal: You want to know what makes a villain even more terrifying? The fact that every victory our hero has is more of a minor inconvenience towards the villain. Which is what this scene is. Because while Luz definitely won the battle, it looks Belos is planning on winning the war.

Eda looks different in the outro: I like this. You know why? Because it tells me that Eda being half cursed is not going to be fixed any time soon. Case in point: Willow was wearing her Abomination Track uniform during the intro and the credits, so as not to spoil the ending of episode three. For every episode after, Willow remained in her Plant Track uniform, and it looks like that's not going to change. So the fact that the crew is committing to Eda's design change, to the point where they change the credits as well, shows a great attention to detail. That also hints at a dynamic shift that will remain for the foreseeable future.

The finale makes me want more: To me, the best finales are the ones that resolve most stories but still opens up more for the next season. Because every narrative and conflict season one opened up has been closed. Lilith wanting to arrest Eda? Closed. Who cursed Eda? Closed. Amity's redemption? Please. That got closed, like, three episodes ago. And yet, this finale left me with more questions that I can't wait to get answered in season two.

How will the dynamic change now that Lilith is added into the main crew? What's the day of unity? Why does Emperor Belos want the portal to the human world? Who's that hooded figure that Belos sends to spy on the Owl House? How is being half-cursed going to affect Eda and Lilith? Can Eda still turn into the Owl Beast? Is Lilith going to turn into an Owl Beast now? Are we going to have an episode where Luz and King are going to deal with TWO Owl Beasts? And most importantly: WHEN THE HOLY F**K ARE LUZ AND AMITY GOING TO KISS ALREADY?!?! DO I SERIOUSLY HAVE TO WAIT DURING ANOTHER SEASON-which I'm totally fine with-TO SEE THESE TWO IDIOTS GET TOGETHER?!

I doubt I’ll ever know the answer to all of these questions, but it sure makes me more excited to see what happens next.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, yeah. "Young Blood, Old Souls" is a definite A+ of an episode. It had excellent drama, astonishing character moments, some closure to several stories, and even a few well-timed jokes on occasion. However, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's the best episode of the season. It's definitely in the top five, for sure, but not the best. I'm more than willing to give that title to "Enchanted Grom Fright" just for the importance of it alone. Hell, I'd say that I enjoyed "Agony of a Witch" a lot more than "Young Blood, Old Souls." But, I'm willing to blame that on the same reason why Avengers: Infinity War is seen as the better movie than Avengers: Endgame. Whereas the first part did a great job at lifting up the stakes and tension, that part two pales in comparison from doing its job of giving closure. But that doesn't change the fact that "Young Blood, Old Souls" is a damn-near perfect episode that both hurts and heals the soul.

(And that’s it! It’s going to be another few months ‘til season two hits, and in turn, months until I’ll have to review episodes again...Unless I want to do something crazy like review the episodes I didn’t talk about. But that’ll never happen!)

(...)

(...Alright fine. I’ll review them. But not until The Owl House comes onto Disney+!)

[allenmendezsr]

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Dr. Carl Bamlet Doctor of Chiropractic, Certified Nutrition Specialist

Dr Alan Christianson Naturopathic Medical Doctor

Dr Victoria Flight General Medicine Practitioner, Nutrition Specialist

Samantha McSorley Herbalist, Naturopath

Diane V Capaldi Founder of Paleo Boss Lady

Dr Eric Wood Naturopathic Physician

Dr Rodney Ford Pediatrician, Assoc. Professor

Elora Harre Founder of The Shrinking Violet

Mark Webster Naturopathic Pharmacist

Kippy Miller Founder of Kippy’s! Non-Dairy Ice Cream Shop

Dr. Jennifer Lamoureux Pharmacist, Founder of Egyptian Smoothie Detox

Rachel McClelland Founder of South Beach PrimalFounder of Dinner For Mary

Durgadas Lingham Ayurvedic Practitioner

Lisa Willert Founder of Everybody’s Butchery

Michelle Joy Kramer Holistic Health Practitioner

Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson, Ph.D Founder of Bright Line Eating

Dr Cade Copeland Doctor of Chiropractic

Drew Canole Author, Fitness Specialist

Summer Bock Holistic Health Coach

Ari Whitten Author, Fat Loss & Nutrition Expert

Paul Greive Farmer at Primal Pastures

Dr. Izabella Wentz Author, Thyroid Pharmacist

Ben Ceccarelli Founder of Dinner For Mary

Dr. John O’Malley Doctor of Chiropractic

Vandana Sheth, RDN Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator

Dr. Catherine Heinlein Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator

Lauren Kanzler, CCN Nutritionist, Diabetes Specialist

Kirsty Higgins Fitness Specialist

Walid Abdul-Wahad Founder of Desert Farms, Inc.

Lisa Lewtan Holistic Health Practitioner

Dr. Pedram Shojai, OMD Author & Filmmaker

Dr Judith Thompson Naturopathic Consultant

Laura Grammatico Certified Holistic Health Educator

Dr Charles Livingston Author, Doctor of Chiropractic

Dr Robin Bernhoft Occupational Medicine Specialist

Julianne Taylor Nutritionist

Leanne Ely Author, Nutritionist

Gary Watson Author, Founder of Wake the Fork Up

Sean Ghazzara Fitness Specialist

Perla Bucknell Yoga Instructor

Gina Broom Wellness & Lifestyle Blogger

Leigh O’Brien Registered Dietitian

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8 Original Episodes (Digital)

4 Additional, Never-Before-Seen Episodes (Digital)

Companion Guide and Transcript For Each Episode (PDF)

Transformational Cookbook (PDF)

The Top 77 Superfoods for Healing (PDF)

21-Day Meal Plan (PDF)

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I look forward to getting an email from you soon, telling me about all the incredible results you’re experiencing using the Food, Health, & You Complete Implementation System.

Support our mission and begin your journey to incredible health today!

Your friend,

Dr. Carl Bamlet Founder of Food, Health, & You

P.S. This revolutionary system is available via electronic download so you can start watching right away! And remember, this special discounted price is not going to be around for long, so if you want to get full access to Food, Health, & You AND all the value-added FREE gifts, you need to act NOW! Don’t wait for another second to start taking back your health!

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P.P.P.S. I don’t want to pressure you, but if you’re the least bit tempted to take the plunge, that means you should take advantage of this incredible, life-changing opportunity while you still can!

$199.95 $99.95

8 Original Episodes (Digital)

4 Additional, Never-Before-Seen Episodes (Digital)

Companion Guide and Transcript For Each Episode (PDF)

Transformational Cookbook (PDF)

The Top 77 Superfoods for Healing (PDF)

21-Day Meal Plan (PDF)

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Order and Payment Inquiries

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Testimonials, case studies, and examples found on this page are results that have beenforwarded to us by users of Food, Health & You products and related products, and may notreflect the typical purchaser’s experience, may not apply to the average personand are notintended to represent or guarantee that anyone will achieve the same or similar.

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[daylflay]

It’s Always Darkest

Before the Dawn

“It’s always darkest before the dawn”; that’s how the old adage goes. Having said that, it’s currently pretty difficult for most of us to see past the dark. COVID-19 continues to spread (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-argentina/argentina-announces-mandatory-quarantine-to-curb-coronavirus-idUSKBN216446), the economy inexorably spirals downward (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/echoes-of-the-great-depression-us-economy-could-post-biggest-contraction-ever-2020-03-19), and my home state of California has just been put into lockdown (https://www.politico.com/states/california/story/2020/03/19/newsom-orders-all-40m-californians-to-stay-home-in-nations-strictest-state-lockdown-1268248). The world is currently facing a crisis the scale of which arguably hasn’t been seen since said world was at war with itself, and for some, at least in America, that crisis started in 2016 when our current president was elected; for others, it started back during the 2007/2008 financial crisis; regardless of when the crisis started, the only path forward starts with labor. 

During the early 20th century, when industry was changing the nature of then-modern life, global conflict’s grisly violence shocked sensibilities, and the meaning of life in Western culture started being questioned by the masses, a group of writers/artists known as the Modernists rose to the occasion and attempted to encapsulate the malaise and spiritual unease of their milieu. Poets like Edward Arlington Robinson chose to focus on the cynicism of the moment, as portrayed in his poem, Richard Cory. At the end of Robinson’s poem, the titular Richard Cory commits suicide: “And Richard Cory, one calm summer night, went home and put a bullet through his head.” I’m personally a highly cynical individual, and can very much understand Robinson’s disposition, but in this particular moment of ours, amidst a pandemic, I believe there’s much merit in the antithesis of my usual misanthropy; I think it’s optimism that gets us through this, not the other way around, and that will take work in our current social climate. Ezra Pound was another Modernist, and famously cynical, but he did have a somewhat famous catchphrase that I think is helpful in spite of his problematic nature: “Make it new”. Though neither Robinson nor Pound achieved the success they desired via their poetry, both economically and otherwise, until their latter years, they still labored on and continued writing, because they understood the importance of what they were creating; they understood that the moment in which they lived demanded their sacrifice. In our current moment of crisis, when nothing is certain and everyone’s on edge, we have to take our usual misplaced hatred and diametric opposition towards each other and work towards transforming it all into something else; we have to make it new.  

The New

The idea of making something new can result in positive and negative developments, and Brooke Erin Duffy delves into some of the latter in The romance of work: Gender and aspirational labour in the digital culture industries. In Duffy’s article, she rallies against a new form of exploitative labor unique to the digital era: “While critical discourses of precarity and instability offer a decidedly bleak view of the contemporary labor market, individualist appeals to passion and entrepreneurialism temporally reroute employment concerns. That is, affective mantras like ‘Do What You Love’ shift workers’ focus from the present to the future, dangling the prospect of a career where labour and leisure harmoniously coexist. This illusory coexistence is well suited to descriptions of work in the culture industries, widely understood as environments where low pay and long hours are a tradeoff for creative autonomy”. I think Duffy’s ultimately correct in her assessments, but this present moment of ours compels me to momentarily disregard the nefarious implications of the modern labor market. I think that if you’re able to create entertaining content for people during this dark period of time, and you get to “do what you love” while doing so, then you’re providing a mutually beneficial service when people need such a thing most. It’s during moments like these that the best in people can shine through the ominous haze, and the individuals I’m tracking are (mostly) no exception. For the most part, the people I’m paying attention to are already professionally involved in media to some degree, so they’re not vying for employment on the same level the individuals Duffy refers to in her article are, but that makes their intent clearer to an extent.

Rick Wilson always makes attempts to simultaneously espouse his ideology while humorously attacking individuals on Twitter, but he’s also been posting a lot of entertaining memes/gifs recently. Just today (3/19/20), he posted two of them within a couple of hours of one another: One was a gif pulled from a South Park episode, which itself was a reference to the film The Human Centipede, and it read, “I wonder if Hannity likes the cuttlefish or the vanilla pudding.”; the other was an image of Donald Trump in a Star Trek costume, and it read, “Glad we have a space force instead of a pandemic response team”. Rick was not being incredibly nice to either Sean Hannity or Donald Trump, but the overtly humorous images are bound to brighten the days of folks that are rightfully upset with both Hannity and Trump for their respective roles in exacerbating the current crisis.

Mehdi Hasan is generally a solemn tweeter, which is sensible considering that his occupation as a journalist entails that he maintain a certain sobriety when communicating anything to the public. Mehdi’s approach to producing sunnier-than-usual content today involved (somewhat) praising a man he loathes, and bestowing loving and kind thoughts upon his children: In a tweet directed at Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Mehdi tweeted a link to a Clickhole (a humor/satire website) article whose headline read, “Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point”; in another of Mehdi’s heartfelt tweets of the day, only a minute separated from the prior tweet, Mehdi responds to a tweet by Time magazine editor Anand Giridharadas that read, ‘What have you watched, read, or heard in this strange, dark time that has given you comfort and joy?’, to which Mehdi says, “My kids”. It’s a nice moment from Mehdi, and a reminder of what’s important during times like these.

Like with most things in life, women, relative to men, have to deal with additional complications attached to their actions online, and that unfortunately remains true even when it comes to them trying to do moral and selfless things. In The Unwanted Labour Of Social Media: Women Of Colour Call Out Culture As Venture Community Management, Lisa Nakamura, like Brooke Duffy criticizes exploitative digital labor practices, especially germane to women: “Digital labour is ‘difficult to conceptualise’ because the internet creates new styles of labour: it not only traffics far more in the immaterial, it is also arrayed along new axes of production, new forms of compensation, and new forms of gendering and racialisation. It is this kind of labour that interests me. I am specifically interested in the hidden and often-stigmatised and dangerous labour performed by women of colour, queer and trans people, and racial minorities who call out, educate, protest, and design around toxic social environments in digital media.” All of the women I’m following fall into at least one of the aforementioned social/cultural categories, i.e., they’re all women of color, and one of them is trans. These women, even while being entertaining are still politically conscious, and just by existing on Twitter are making a statement while simultaneously making themselves vulnerable. Having said that, they still persist in generating entertaining content for everyone’s sake despite it all. 

Patti Harrison is trans and Vietnamese, and doesn’t hide either from her 100,000-strong Twitter following, so she’s someone whose very public existence is a powerful declaration of pride in of itself. On March 15th, and also today (3/19), Patti shared how she was spending her isolated time at home, in typically candid form: (3/15) “I am playing @AbzuGame right now on PS4 & it is really good also I am high and online! Love the websites on here. This tweet go viral now!”; (3/19) “Uh  oh…craft alert…I hand-painted these @Margiela tabi boots. And Per @tweetrajouhari I added an awful foot tattoo of Elsa from Frozen.” Patti, by simply sharing the details of her seemingly enjoyable time at home, invited her Twitter feed into her life, and she was happy to do so, which must’ve made a plethora of her followers feel markedly less alone with such a vibrant personality keeping them company virtually. 

Kashana Cauley is a black woman, who, like Patti, has upwards of 100,000 followers, which inevitably results in some negative attention, but she tweets on regardless. Kashana hasn’t been very active on Twitter recently, but when she does tweet, she makes it count, as evidenced by this tweet from March 15th: “Ask not what staying home on the couch can do for you, but what staying home on the couch can do for your country.” That tweet of hers was liked by over 100,000 people, which exceeds her follower count. The amount of people that it reached, and the amount of people who interacted with it, is astounding, and the amount of humor and joy she surely brought to those lives, even if just for a moment, is commensurately astounding.

Candace Owens, unlike the aforementioned women, is not exactly one to diffuse joy; in fact Candace loves doing the exact opposite. Her presence on Twitter is almost exclusively designed to anger people and start fights, which is why I’m so shocked that even she is attempting to lighten up the mood during this somber period of time. This is a tweet of hers from today (3/19): “I wanted to do panic buying, but then I checked my account. Turns out I can only afford to panic…#CoronavirusHumor…Lighten up folks.” If even Candace is willing to perform humorously in favor of the greater good, as opposed to inflaming tensions with her usual provocative rhetoric, then I have hope for the dawn.

The Dawn

In Of Modern Poetry, Wallace Stevens communicates the spirit of Ezra Pound’s directive to “make it new”: “The poem of the mind is the act of finding what will suffice. It has not always had to find: The scene was set; it repeated what was in the script. Then the theatre was changed.” Our global theatre has officially changed, and each and every one of us has a responsibility to work towards finding what will suffice in this maelstrom of ever-changing circumstances. For me, that means working on a script for a movie that has zero chance of actually existing (which means that I have zero chance of profiting off of any of this), because I’m just hoping that it makes someone out there smile.

In my last blog post, I imagined what a contemporary addition to George A. Romero’s living dead cinematic universe might look like. Personally, the act of simply thinking and writing about this silly, hypothetical project has brought me some sense of joy during all of this, and that’s saying a lot for someone as typically nihilistic as myself. I’m going to add to said hypothetical entry in Romero’s saga, entitled Gen-Z, with a speech delivered towards the end of the “film”. This speech is delivered by a Communications student at the university in Fullerton, California in which the living dead outbreak originated. A number of the university’s students have barricaded themselves in the campus, and are about to engage in a last stand against the hordes of living dead. Their survival is unlikely, so they’ve decided to gather one last time in an attempt to rouse one another before their climactic battle. 

This is the speech that the student delivers: “I remember my first official day on this campus vividly, but not fondly. It was the first day of the Fall ’18 semester, and I guess classes just let out because I saw what felt like thousands of people suddenly rush across campus. It was like the running of the Titans, and I was wearing orange. Or the running of the dead, and I was alive, as the case may be. College was never part of my plan, so I had never toured any university campuses, and I did not know what to expect. I kind of freaked out and started questioning all of my decisions, like: Why did I decide to attend a school with 40,000 students if I don’t even like small groups of people? And why did I major in Human Communication Studies if I don’t even like myself? It was overwhelming to me that I could be surrounded by people, yet feel so alone. Then I walked over to my first class, and I saw some of the same faces that I’m looking at today. Everything can be overwhelming when you feel like you’re alone, but what I started to learn that very first day, and what this major continues to teach me, is that I am not alone; none of us are. I have not had the pleasure of knowing everyone on this campus, but we have all walked this path together despite that: We have all been stressed out because of Finals, we have all battled personal demons, and zombies, we have all lived life with its many complexities, and we did it all together on this campus. To this day, I still do not like myself all that much, but that’s okay, because none of this is really about me; it’s about all of you. Look to your right, and to your left, and in front of you, and maybe behind you; that is why we do what we do; we fight alongside each other, for each other. In this era of social media, divisiveness, and the living dead, nothing is more important than empathy, and that is the core tenet of our work here. We have been trained to understand each other, and that means that it is incumbent upon us to help mend our fractured communities; our fractured country; our fractured world. It is going to be a lot of work, but it’s work worth doing, because we’re not just doing it for ourselves. As Zac Efron once said in the 2006 hit film, High School Musical: ‘We’re all in this together.’ Rest in peace, Zac, this one’s for you. Now let’s go kill some fucking zombies!”  

[mastcomm]

Your Wednesday Briefing – The New York Times

Buttigieg and Sanders lead in early Iowa results

Preliminary results from the Iowa caucuses show Pete Buttigieg with a narrow lead over Bernie Sanders at the top of the Democratic primary field. As of 11:30 p.m. in Iowa, or 5:30 a.m. Wednesday in London, it was unclear when the full results would be released.

Here’s what we know so far.

Most of the Democratic candidates are now barreling toward the New Hampshire primary on Feb. 11. One prominent exception is Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor, who is skipping the first four nominating contests but aggressively contesting larger states that begin voting in March.

Details: The Iowa votes counted so far reflect 71 percent of the precincts and are relatively representative of the state, but the margin between Mr. Buttigieg and Mr. Sanders — 26.8 percent and 25.2 percent, respectively, of the state’s delegate equivalents — is unusually slim.

Background: After a razor-close finish in Iowa between Hillary Clinton and Mr. Sanders in 2016, new standards this year required officials to submit three numbers — rather than one — from each of the state’s 1,600-plus precincts. That change, and a new app, slowed the reporting of results.

Epidemic’s impacts ripple abroad

The United States has begun its second airlift of American citizens out of China, and Britain and France have urged their citizens to leave the country if they can.

Here’s the latest on an outbreak that has killed at least 490 people, primarily in the Chinese province of Hubei, and sickened more than 20,000 in Asia.

The epidemic is disrupting life and business across the globe. On Tuesday, the South Korean carmaker Hyundai said it had idled factories because of Chinese supply-chain problems; Japan said it had quarantined a cruise ship with 3,700 people aboard because a passenger had tested positive for the virus; and Macau, a gambling hub and semiautonomous Chinese enclave, said it would shut its casinos for two weeks.

Quotable: “It’s heartbreaking,” says Zhang Lei, a cabdriver who volunteers to ferry residents, especially older adults, to grocery stores and hospitals in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. “There is no one to take care of them.”

On Twitter: The Times correspondents Amy Qin and Chris Buckley are our eyes and ears in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei.

Visuals: Our maps track where the virus has spread, and drone footage shows Wuhan, a city of 11 million people, looking unusually quiet and desolate.

Analysis: Our columnist Li Yuan writes that the Chinese government’s response to the crisis offers its 1.4 billion people “a rare glimpse of how China’s giant, opaque bureaucratic system works — or, rather, how it fails to work.”

In the annual State of the Union address, Mr. Trump argued against Democratic plans to expand access to health care and praised his own tax cuts and the American drone strike that killed a senior Iranian commander, among other subjects.

The president also sprinkled the evening with dramatic flourishes — an army sergeant surprising his family in the House chamber, for example — that evoked his days as a reality television star.

Quote of note: “In just three short years, we have shattered the mentality of American decline and we have rejected the downsizing of America’s destiny,” Mr. Trump told Congress, speaking in the same House chamber where he was impeached nearly seven weeks ago.

Mutual snubs: In a decidedly chilly exchange, Mr. Trump declined to shake the hand of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who then introduced him in a perfunctory way that eschewed the more florid language that she and other speakers have used in the past. She later ripped up her copy of his speech.

Notable guest: Juan Guaidó, the Venezuelan opposition leader, sat in Mr. Trump’s guest box. It was America’s most visible show of support yet for Mr. Guaidó, who is fighting to oust his country’s president from power.

Inflection point for Lebanon’s political crisis

As antigovernment protests continue in Lebanon, many Shiites in the country are struggling to square their loyalty to Hezbollah with its support for the status quo: a government that cannot offer 24-hour electricity, much less a functional economy.

Hezbollah, an Islamist militia that has propped up the government’s incompetence since entering Lebanese politics in 2005, also faces a choice: Will it keep trying to smother demonstrations by Shiites, or listen to their economic grievances?

Context: Hezbollah has insinuated that the protests are the product of a foreign conspiracy against Shiites. That campaign, coupled with unrest in Iraq and Iran over the American killing of a top Iranian commander, has prompted some onetime Lebanese protesters to believe that the United States is secretly maneuvering to pressure the militia and its Shiite partners in all three countries.

Catch up: Lebanon’s refuse crisis says a lot about its political economy.

If you have 8 minutes, this is worth it

Japan doubles down on coal

One consequence of the Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011: Japan has all but closed its nuclear power program, and now plans to build as many as 22 new coal-fired power plants.

The construction, one site is pictured above, sets Japan apart from other developed economies that are busy phasing out coal. Critics say it also undercuts the government’s effort to portray this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo as one of the greenest ever.

Here’s what else is happening

Daniel arap Moi: As the autocratic president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002, he ruled the country in a postcolonial era of political repression, economic stagnation and notorious corruption. He died on Tuesday at 95.

Prada: The Italian fashion brand on Tuesday reached a deal with the New York City Commission on Human Rights to provide “racial equity training” for its New York employees and Milan executives, after a civil rights lawyer filed a complaint about figurines that resembled monkeys in blackface.

Tech profits: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft made a combined $55.2 billion in net profit in the most recent quarter, making clear that threats of regulatory and legal scrutiny have done little to hurt the bottom line.

Tesla shares: They closed at $887 on Tuesday, up from $650 two trading days earlier, for a gain of 36 percent. That reflects optimism over the electric-car manufacturer’s future, but also moves by the company’s haters to cut their losses.

Snapshot: Above, a nudist dinner party in Florida. (Yes, this is a thing.)

What we’re listening to: This episode of “Literary Friction,” a monthly podcast about books, by Carrie Plitt, a literary agent, and Octavia Bright, a writer and academic. “I’m just catching up with its 2019-in-review episode,” says Chris Stanford of the Briefings team. “And based on their recommendations, I’ve already added to my nightstand’s ever-growing pile.”

Now, a break from the news

Cook: This recipe for a chocolate caramel tart comes from the dawn of the salty-dessert trend, and it’s a perfect example of why the pairing works.

Action: Abi Daré’s debut novel, “The Girl With the Louding Voice,” tells the story of a 14-year-old girl who finds work as a housemaid for a rich family in Lagos, Nigeria.

Smarter Living: A former F.B.I. negotiator offers some interesting tips for travel.

And now for the Back Story on …

The kindness of Australian strangers

Australia’s bush fires have brought pain and destruction to land, wildlife and property, but they have also highlighted the camaraderie and support that Australians call “mateship.” Damien Cave, our Australia bureau chief, experienced it firsthand recently while reporting on volunteer firefighters. This is his account.

We had just finished interviewing a group of firefighters trying to contain a sprawling blaze, and after bouncing down rocky roads for a few miles, we hit pavement.

That’s when I heard the familiar thump, thump, thump. I turned to Matthew Abbott, the photographer who was driving. “I think we’ve got a flat,” I said.

The back left tire on his Toyota pickup was hissing like a snake. And the jack he had? Built for a smaller car.

While we searched for rocks to prop it up, an S.U.V. pulled over. “Need any help?” the older gentleman behind the wheel asked.

Then a truck driver pulling a load of timber stopped, and a man with tattoos on his arms and legs hopped out.

Within minutes, he’d found a better place for the jack, lying on the ground to push it into place.

Three or four other cars drove down the small country road while we were stuck. Every driver stopped to offer assistance.

Every. Single. One.

Such kindness is no panacea for climate change or mega-blazes, but it does show that Australia has depths of something it will need to recover from this horrific fire season: thoughtfulness and empathy.

That’s it for this briefing.

— Mike

Thank you To Mark Josephson and Eleanor Stanford for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.

P.S. • We’re listening to “The Daily.” Our latest episode is on the confusion at the Iowa caucuses. • Here’s today’s Mini Crossword puzzle, and a clue: Whale-obsessed captain (four letters). You can find all our puzzles here. • Mihir Zaveri, a reporter on The Times’s Express Desk, has been voted president of the South Asian Journalists Association.

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[constructionaccounting]

0329: Ways Your Construction Company Can Spend More Now And Save You Money Long-Term

This Podcast Is Episode Number 0328, And It Will Be About Ways Your Construction Company Can Spend More Now And Save You Money Long-Term

During my lifetime, I have seen too many contractors work hard, never have enough money to retire. Some of them die from exhaustion, and others just wore themselves out and lived their final years in poverty and only a few, less than 5% ever made enough money from owning and operating their construction company and outside investments to retire early enough and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.

  This article is a bit strong, and it could offend some folks. If it offends you, please accept my sincere apologies. I tend to tell it straight and not sugar coat anything because I have been involved in the construction industry most of my life beginning with working in my Step Father's construction company after school in the mid-1960s.

  In an attempt to save money, the cheap contractor ends up spending the most money and earning a tiny profit because they believe in maximizing than optimizing. In the short run, maximizing can payoff; however, in the long term, it never does. Here are four ways you can spend more now and save money in the long-term:

Vehicle

If you stock your truck with every tool you think you may need, and load it to the sky with all the parts and inventory you think you may need, and drive hard and fast you are maximizing that resource, and that is not a good thing.

Benefit - Hopefully, fewer trips to the supply house, Lowe's, Home Depot, or other places which will save you a little bit of time and money.

Costs - You will end up spending more money for each mile you drive because you use more fuel, your brakes will wear out faster from having to stop with more weight. Your tires will wear down quicker, and your vehicle suspension parts will need to be replaced sooner rather than later. You will have money that is tied up in tools, equipment, and inventory that could be invested elsewhere and make more money for you. Even worse, if you have any credit card debt or loans that money could be used to pay them down and reduce your interest expense.

Risks - If you're involved in a traffic collision and the investigation reveals that you have exceeded the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR) of your truck or van then it is likely your insurance may not cover the damages. Besides, you may be liable for negligence charges. We recommend you contact your insurance agent and your attorney for their advice.

Spend the money and choose the right vehicle for your needs. It should match the needs of your company without putting yourself and your business at risk.

Tools And Equipment

Construction workers who take pride in their work produce better results with fewer repairs if they have quality tools and equipment. Cheap tools and equipment cost a lot of time and money that you cannot see - out-of-sight means out-of-mind. Invest in the best that you can afford taking into account the Total Cost Of Ownership instead of the price.

Make more money with productivity gains. See the chart below:

     For Example - Your best construction worker asks for a tool:

It costs $1,200.00

It will save ten minutes a day in labor

It will last 3 years

The standard response is the company can't afford it! 

QuickBooks Desktop

Most contractors try to make QuickBooks Online work - that is a recipe for disaster. QuickBooks Online is an excellent product for many companies, but not for construction. The primary reason is that contractors are one of the few companies that pack their entire company into trucks and vans and drive it to their customer's location. Then they put together a custom-built product which means the margin for error is enormous, and break-even calculations are a moving target and can only be done in a properly Setup QuickBooks File Designed Specifically For Construction Accounting.

QuickBooks Desktop Version has been around since 1991, and it has improved at a stable pace that contractors and accountants can keep up with. For the past several years our contractor clients have enjoyed having access to the tried and true QuickBooks Desktop version in a Cloud environment.

QuickBooks Online is a great program for small companies including some non-profit organizations, but it is not suited for a serious construction contractor with more than two projects a month and generating more than $500 a year in sales.

Most construction companies started using QuickBooks Online, so they could get to their QuickBooks Pro or QuickBooks For Contractors file anywhere they have internet access 24/7. We can move your QuickBooks Online file into our private cloud server and provide you with the full power of QuickBooks Desktop version in the cloud.

Bookkeeper

Don't hire the cheapest bookkeeper you can find. Almost anyone can indeed do bookkeeping because 95% of it is boring and only 5% is sheer terror. However, when the regular bookkeeper attempts to do construction accounting that is like watching a naked person, covered in honey getting into a fight with a grizzly bear in the woods; it never ends well.

Until your construction company reaches at least $5 million in annual sales you cannot afford to hire a qualified bookkeeper or construction accountant full-time to put on your accounting staff because there is no such thing as a part-time qualified bookkeeper or construction accountant.

For Example - You Hire someone with bad habits, which is a Cheap Bookkeeper part-time at $15.00 an hour for 10 hours a week thinking you will save money. The problem with that is you may not understand the actual cost to have them on your payroll, including overhead, is closer to $25.29 per hour. See the chart below:

  Every Ten Minutes A Day Of Unproductive Office Labor:

Every Ten Minutes Your Bookkeeper Wastes Costs You Money!

Could Cost Your Company $273.93 Every Year

At 10% Profit You Need $2,739.30 More Sales To Maintain Profit Margin

It may seem harsh to survive and thrive as a contractor, you must make sure your employees are focused on their job during the time you are PAYING THEM TO WORK! You must do whatever it takes to enforce the rules of engagement for producing results at your contracting company or be prepared to work for some other contractor and live under their rules.

In some cases we can do more work for less money by providing you with real construction bookkeeping and accounting + payroll processing + monthly and quarterly tax reports + year-end W-2, W-3 + profit and growth management consulting + financial and job costing reports + paperless data storage and more at a lower overall cost and as a bonus show you how to make more money than you are making now!

In conclusion

Highly-profitable construction company owners ask their construction accountant to calculate the projected Return on Investment (ROI) and then consult their Strategic Business Plan to make an informed decision. Spending more now can save you more money in the long run as long as you know where and how to spend it.

About The Author:

Randal DeHart, PMP, QPA is the co-founder of Business Consulting And Accounting in Lynnwood Washington. He is the leading expert in outsourced construction bookkeeping and accounting services for small construction companies across the USA. He is experienced as a Contractor, Project Management Professional, Construction Accountant, Intuit ProAdvisor, and QuickBooks For Contractors Expert. This combination of experience and skill sets provides a unique perspective which allows him to see the world through the eyes of a contractor, Project Manager, Accountant and Construction Accountant. This quadruple understanding is what sets him apart from other Intuit ProAdvisors and accountants to the benefit of all of the construction contractors he serves across the USA. Visit http://www.fasteasyaccounting.com/randal-dehart/ to learn more.

Our Co-Founder Randal DeHart - Is a Certified PMP (Project Management Professional) with several years of construction project management experience. His expertise is construction accounting systems engineering and process development. His exhaustive study of several leading experts including the work of Dr. W. Edward Deming, Michael Gerber, Walter A. Shewhart, James Lewis and dozens of others was the foundation upon which our Construction Bookkeeping System is based and continues to evolve and improve. Check out our Contractor Success Map Podcast on iTunes. 

    Download the Contractors APP today from the App Store or Android Store

Access Code: FEAHEROS

Click here to download the App on Android:

Click here to download the App on iOS:

Simply scan the QR code or search for ‘MyAccountants’ in the App Store and enter the Access code: FEAHEROS to utilize the powerful App features and capabilities, and benefit from having our Construction Accounting App at your fingertips, 24/7."

PS: Even if you are not a Construction Contractor you will find a plenty of benefits in the app so we invite you to download it too! It's Free so why not?

    Check out this episode about Contractors Marketing - Accounting - Production (M.A.P.)!

[diningrheum]

When it all comes tumbling down…gratitude!

I know my last post said that this month was SUPPOSED to be all about gratitude (and I promise I will still try to incorporate a little bit towards the end) but I’m struggling with it at this point, and I just want to make this blog REAL and HONEST…or else what’s the point of it.  Not to sound like one of those anti-depressant commercials that you see on TV, but most days in real life, I feel like I’ve had to wear a mask.  I don’t want my parents to worry, so I only tell them the good news about my RA, but don’t tell them about some of my lingering fears.  I didn’t want to disappoint my boyfriend, so I took a bunch of painkillers and hopped on the bike out of fear that the pain of my rheumatoid arthritis would impact my activity levels to a point that he would care less for me.  And it’s all driven me to this point….a breaking point where I feel backed into a corner and I just want to come punching and kicking and screaming my way out and say “THIS IS ME, DAMNIT!  This is who I am!  Love me or stop loving me, but I just can’t take hiding it anymore!”

The past year or so has been a complete dumpster fire! A (not so) brief recap:

At the end of the summer in 2017, my boyfriend and I decided to take the next step after almost 5 years together and move in together.  It was my first time living with a significant other, so I was super nervous but also really excited. Things seems to be going really well….for about the first month.  And then….well…something unexpected that I’m afraid caused irreparable harm to the relationship happened.  This is something that I fear I will deeply regret every single day for the rest of my life. To be fair to him, even I did not anticipate the depth of the depression and guilt that I would feel, but I had hoped for a little more compassion that the decision would be a so difficult for me, both emotionally and physically.  I have never been suicidal, but many days I felt that I don’t deserve to live after what I had done.  This may seem like an extreme reaction and perhaps it is, and it was one I was ill prepared for.  It was something that I never told a single other person about.  He was the only one who knew, and therefore the only person I could trust to understand these feelings.  And it felt like a betrayal, when he just pretended like it never happened. It felt like a further betrayal when he failed to follow through on the steps he was supposed to take to help put my mind at ease about the situation.

In January, my symptoms began to make themselves more pronounced.  Joint pain went from “ok, I just slept weird” to ” hmm….something strange is going on here.  I don’t think this is normal.” It was enough that it inspired me to take the first food sensitivity test to look for a possible culprit to my pain.  Looking back, I still sometimes wonder if all the stress of the previous autumn were in some way linked to my onset of RA. I’ve read many accounts of trauma triggering an autoimmune disease, so if a car accident can trigger it, than I’m almost certain that an unplanned pregnancy and then being suddenly not pregnant anymore can certainly do it.  I mean, the rollercoaster of emotions between guilt and relief alone could probably do the trick, but the crazy hormone changes that the body goes through, first by getting pregnant and then in response to the demise of the fetus are not to be dismissed.

Also in January, my grandfather passed away suddenly.  On Christmas Day, he was going to a friend’s Christmas party, then by New Years he was checking into the hospital.  I never expected that he would never check out and go back home.  Then, at the end on June, I got news that my other grandfather had passed away, less than 6 months between them.  Two great men, just gone from my life during a time full of uncertainty.

Next, came my diagnosis in July.  And with it, rather than total relief or optimism that I’d finally start to get the treatment I needed, I felt more guilt.  Guilt that my boyfriend wasn’t getting the active girlfriend he thought he was moving in with.  What if I didn’t get better?  We had just moved in together and I got the diagnosis on the one-year anniversary of our closing date.  This wasn’t what he had signed up for…an invalid for a girlfriend.  At a time when I should’ve been focused on my own health, I was worried that my boyfriend wouldn’t want to be with me anymore.  Up to that point it wasn’t as if things were going swimmingly in our relationship either.  I’m not great at adjusting to change, and even though moving in together was something I wanted, I’m a weirdly private person and now it was impossible to hide my weird little quirks, like my embarrassing Netflix queue of sappy romcoms or the stupid goofy games I obsessively play on my phone or my cookbook hoarding habit. Instead of embracing it and trusting that it wouldn’t change his feelings for me, I got nervous about him finding out.  I remember more than once, he would ask about what I did on an evening that we didn’t spend together, and I got instantly defensive and secretive about it and said “Nothing! Geeez…why do you have to know so bad, you control freak!”  Truth: I binge watched some episodes of a CW show or played games on my phone all night long or danced around and lip synced in the living room while blasting the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack.

I’m not saying he was completely blameless either.  He had some expectations of me that I felt were a little unreasonable, like a quota on how many times a week he felt we should be having sex (way to suck all the romance and spontaneity out of it).  And he wasn’t always perfectly compassionate.  Before my diagnosis, he made a comment on how I wasn’t really working out any more.  Earlier in our relationship, I used to go with him to the gym, but as my hands and feet started to hurt I was less and less into it.  I know it disappointed him, but it wasn’t exactly my fault.  He asked what my new fitness routine was, and I angrily shot back “Right now I’m lucky if I can walk to and from work without pain”  Then he shot back that I needed to come up with something because otherwise I would get fat and he couldn’t see himself with someone “not fit.”  It was hurtful!  I didn’t choose to be sick, and I was trying my best to overcome my depression, but I felt like he was suggesting that I somehow planned this disease and its onset to happen after we were living together as a means to trap him! Again, this was before I knew what was wrong with me and how or if I could get back to normal.  And the tensions kept mounting and the rift between us kept growing.  We’d fight more often and every time we did, he’d throw in a subtle or not so subtle suggestion that we break up, like “Things won’t work out unless you……”  I got really defensive every time and just shut down or exploded in anger at him, which never helped the situation.

Finally came today.  A brief background:  I grew up and live in a very liberal area of the country, and have always tended to lean a little more moderate-conservative. Being election day, I put a 24-hour temporary profile picture up that said “I voted Republican.” Being someone in a liberal echo chamber, I often keep these opinions to myself to avoid debates that never tend to lead anywhere and in my experience have always results in name calling, but everyone else so proudly declares that they vote and also proudly declares how they vote, either online or in daily conversation, so why can’t I just because my opinion is a little different?  I’m just as proud of my choice and the hopefulness it brings me for freedom and I didn’t want to continue to hide it.  My boyfriend was not happy, and he took it as a personal attack on him and said my posting it endangered his relationships with others.  It felt like the ultimate betrayal.  I trusted him to know me and love me for who I am, and encourage me to feel comfortable about it.  I’m tired of hiding everything….my pregnancy, my illness, even this blog- a blog that no one in my real life knows about, including him (I planned it that way because I felt like I could be more honest with strangers that if I knew my audience and was worried about how they might read what I was writing).  Instead, I felt like he was controlling me and censoring MY facebook profile and MY opinions because of how it made HIM look. So I erupted in a series of angry texts back at him.  He asked to meet for lunch to discuss.  When we did, I erupted even more.  Eventually, when I’d lost steam on my tirade, he said that he was sorry but that our relationship was over!  So there it was: a 24 hour facebook profile pic was the straw that broke the camel’s back.  I feel so many things right now: angry, devastated, remorseful, and confused!

On some level, things with us haven’t exactly been healthy for a while, but then on the other hand, I’m finally starting to get a handle on my RA symptoms and I felt like things with us were starting to improve.  Two days ago we were talking about going to the store to start planning out cabinets and countertops for a kitchen remodel in our house.  And last night, we had just gotten a new comforter for our bed after struggling with a duvet that was always spilling out of its cover because of a few missing buttons.  I was really hopeful that we were going to be able to put all the bad things in past behind us and start to look forward and hopeful for a festive holiday season where we could finally get a reprieve from all the past year or so’s troubles. It felt like we were this-close to re-establishing peace in our relationship and if we could come out of the other side of this year, maybe a little battered, but still intact then we’d have the strength to get through anything together.  But I guess all of the setbacks of this year took their toll, and now I’m forced to find a time to start packing up our shared home and move back in with my parents.

So, I said I would end this post with gratitude, since that is supposed to be the theme of my posts this month.  It’s really hard to feel grateful for much when the man you love just gave up on you and broke your heart, but I am grateful that I do have other people that are in my corner.  My parents are loving and kind and will welcome me into their home to stay as long as I need. And not having to move into an apartment alone is probably good.  My parents will be caring and compassionate that I’ve just probably lost the love of my life (I know most people say that, but even though we’ve been together for about 5 and a half years, our story goes back all the way to the fall of 2000, so it feels like 18 years of my live—my ENTIRE adult life– has just fallen apart) but will also be the tough love I need to try to navigate moving on.  I don’t have a particularly large friend group, but the ones I do have I know love me unconditionally.  Even one of my friends, who I know disagrees with me on all aspects of politics really came through for me today.  I’ve been able to come clean with those people about last fall’s pregnancy and its aftermath and they’ve all been overwhelmingly comforting and supportive in ways I hadn’t expected. Now I only wish I had told them sooner, so I wouldn’t have had a year of self loathing over the whole thing and guilt about hiding it from everyone.  They were understanding of my reasons for wanting to keep it private and were truly there for me.  And will truly be there for me going forward.

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[healthnotion]

My Favorite AOM Podcast Interviews This Year (So Far)

Over the years doing the AOM podcast, I’ve had the chance to talk to hundreds of writers, scholars, and experts from a wide variety of fields and walks of life. The goal of the podcast is the same as the website: to provide information to help men live a well-rounded and flourishing life. Episodes explore how to live a life of both contemplation and action, while having some fun along the way. The show topics cover everything from history and philosophy, to social/professional skills, to parenting, to self-defense and physical training/fitness, to pop culture and literature.

While I’ve enjoyed talking to all my guests, below I highlight my personal favorites so far this year. They’re not in any particular order. If you haven’t listened to the podcast yet, the episodes below will give you a good idea of what you’ve been missing out on. Listen to a few (or all) of them and then subscribe using your podcast player of choice. I’d love to have you join in on my conversations with some really interesting folks.

And if you’ve been listening to the podcast for awhile now, I’d appreciate it if you could give us a review on iTunes or whatever podcast platform you use. It’s a fantastic way to support the show and help other people discover it.

The Era of Bright Expectations

After WWII and before the Korean War, America experienced a short period free from the fear of war and conflict. People were optimistic about a future of peace and plenty. My guest in this episode, Earle Labor, calls this time the “era of bright expectations.” He experienced it firsthand as a young man who had just graduated from college, and shares his remembrances of the period in his book, The Far Music. The era’s burgeoning sense of optimism inspired him and a few of his college buddies to set out on a road trip up to the Canadian wilds in search of the spirit of romance and adventure. 

Earle had been on the show before to discuss his landmark biography on Jack London, and it’s just really enjoyable to hear Earle reflect on his young manhood.

The Leader’s Bookshelf 

It’s been said “Leaders are readers.” But what should a leader read? Admiral James Stavridis set out to answer that question by polling 4-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military to get their best recommendations. He’s served as the commander of US Southern Command, US European Command, and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe. In his book, The Leader’s Bookshelf, Admiral Stavridis explains why reading is fundamental for all leaders and provides a list of 50 books suggested by senior officers.  

We began our conversation by discussing the culture of reading amongst military officers past and present, including Generals James Mattis and George Patton. Admiral Stavridis then shared tips on how to read more, even with a busy schedule, and how to get more out of your reading. 

How to Increase Your Courage and Bravery 

For thousands of years, philosophers and writers have debated the nature of courage. What is it? Are some people born more courageous than others? Can you learn to be courageous? Robert Biswas-Diener set out to answer these questions in his book The Courage Quotient by looking at courage through a scientific lens. 

In this show, Robert explained how he defined courage for the purpose of his research and how he went about studying and quantifying this quality. He then explained how courage manifests itself differently in cultures of dignity, honor, and face. We then discussed the genetics of courage and how people can learn to be more courageous. Finally, Robert gave brass tacks advice on what you can do to manage fear and increase your propensity to action, including carrying lucky charms, thinking about yourself less, and avoiding self-handicapping. 

How to Lift More, Run Faster, and Endure Longer 

How long can a human run without stopping? What’s the most weight a human can deadlift? Will someone ever run a mile in less than three minutes and thirty seconds?

In this show, Alex Hutchinson and I discussed these questions, which he set out to answer in his book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. First we talked about the history of the science of human performance and the three competing theories about how to measure and improve it. We then conversed about the factors that have an influence on our performance including, pain, thirst, muscle strength, diet, and mental fatigue. Then Alex shared insights from the latest research on how you can manipulate those factors to run faster and longer and lift heavier weights. 

What It Really Means to Be Self-Reliant 

When you hear the term “self-reliance,” what do you think of? Living off the grid in a cabin somewhere? Doing everything yourself, and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps?

Do these images get at what it really means to be self-reliant, or is there a deeper and even more profound meaning to be grasped?

Indeed there is, and Kyle Eschenroeder helped us unpack it. We discussed insights from his Pocket Guide to Self-Reliance, including what most people get wrong about self-reliance and how he defines it. We then got into specific tactics you can use to trust yourself more: spending time in solitude, developing an inner scorecard, not seeking advice when you’re first starting a big project, and using intentional introspection. Finally, we discussed how to jive self-reliance with belonging to a community and how to know if you’re becoming a self-reliant man.

The Rise and Fall of the American Heavyweight Boxer

With boxing on the wane in America for the past twenty some odd years, it’s easy to forget how much of a cultural juggernaut it was for much of the 20th century. Boxing was not only a common recreational pastime and athletic pursuit for young men, and a wildly popular spectator sport, it was a metaphor for manhood and other American cultural struggles as well. When two men stepped in the ring, it wasn’t just two men fighting. The bout could become a battle of white vs. black, nativist vs. immigrant, or democracy vs. fascism. 

In this episode, Paul Beston and I talked about his book The Boxing Kings, and legendary fighters like John L. Sullivan, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, James Braddock, Joe Lewis, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson. Along the way Paul provided insights how each of these heavyweight greats became conflicted symbols of masculinity in America. 

Think Like a Poker Player to Make Better Decisions 

How do you make good decisions in a complex world? Former poker champion Annie Duke suggests thinking like a poker player. She shared insights from her career as a professional poker player on how to make smart decisions in the face of uncertainty. We talked about the role of luck, both good and bad, and then discussed some of the biases that prevent humans from thinking probabilistically. We ended our conversation discussing ideas from her book, Thinking in Bets, about how leaders can use these principles to help the groups they lead make better decisions.

The Incredible True Story of the Renegade WWII Pilots Who Helped Win the War in the Pacific

In 1942, the United States was fighting a war in two major theaters: Europe and the Pacific. But in the early days of WWII, the US and its allies had a “Europe First” strategy which resulted in more troops, supplies, and attention being funneled to that theater. American forces in the Pacific were charged with protecting Australia from Japan, but given scant resources to fulfill that mission. 

But as Bob Drury reveals in his book, Lucky 666, a group of enterprising and rebellious bomber airmen stationed in Papau New Guinea grew tired of playing defense against the Japanese and decided to take the war to the enemy by going on daredevil, near-suicide missions. In this episode, Bob and I discuss the incredible true story of this renegade crew. 

Everything You Need to Know About Diet & Fat Loss

When it comes to fitness and nutrition, the nutrition part can cause a lot of confusion. There’s so much information out there about the best diet to follow and often the advice is contradictory. Robert Santana is a registered dietician and a PhD candidate in exercise and nutrition science. In this show we discussed all things diet and nutrition, beginning with a big picture overview of the three main macronutrients our body uses to function. Robert then debunked a lot of popular ideas people have about nutrition these days as well as the science of fat loss. We ended our conversation discussing my experience in cutting weight, what I eat from day to day, and why trying to get six-pack abs isn’t necessarily a healthy goal. 

Why You Need to Embrace Small Talk

If you’re like a lot of people, engaging in small talk can feel awkward and tedious. Consequently, you avoid it as much as you can. But if you want to get ahead both personally and professionally, you need to embrace these little exchanges. In this episode, Debra Fine, author of The Fine Art of Small Talk, explained why small talk is actually a big deal and isn’t just a waste of saliva. She then shared the biggest obstacles people have to engaging in small talk and the two mindset shifts you need to make to get over those obstacles. We finally discussed specific tactics you can start using today to begin conversations, keep them going, and end them gracefully. 

Should a Man Care About How He Dresses?

To hear a lot of guys tell it, real men don’t care about style. Where did this idea that men don’t care about their appearance come from, has it always been around, and is there validity to it? Tanner Guzy sought answers to these questions in his book, The Appearance of Power. 

In this episode Tanner argues against the idea that real men don’t care about clothes and lays out a case for style being a valid part of masculinity. We discussed why caring about how you dress is typically thought of as effeminate, why men should think of clothes as an amoral tool, and how that tool can be a valuable means towards accomplishing your desired ends. 

How to Overcome Nice Guy Syndrome

We’ve been told since we were little kids to “Be nice.” But what if being nice isn’t really that good and it’s making you and those around you miserable?

That’s the provocative argument Dr. Aziz Gazipura makes in this episode. We began the show by talking about what people think “nice” means, but how it usually plays out in reality. Dr. Aziz then dug into the issues that pop up over and over again in the lives of people pleasers, like anxiety, depression, anger, and resentment. He then shared specific tactics from his book Not Nice that the chronically nice can start using today to be more assertive, like saying no without feeling guilty, getting over feeling responsible for everyone’s feelings, and stating your preferences.

What It Means to Be a Quiet Professional

We live in a time of hype and self-aggrandizement. But in this episode, Rob Shaul, founder and president of the Mountain Tactical Institute, argues that what the world needs more of are quiet professionals — people who’s only focus is to get the job done well. We began by unpacking the foundational definition of a quiet professional, and then Rob walked us through the traits and attributes he thinks one must develop to embody this ideal. 

The post My Favorite AOM Podcast Interviews This Year (So Far) appeared first on The Art of Manliness.

My Favorite AOM Podcast Interviews This Year (So Far) published first on https://mensproblem.tumblr.com

[everettwilkinson]

POLITICO Playbook: RICHARD SHELBY tells Tapper he didn’t vote for ROY MOORE

Good Sunday morning. BUZZ — SOME HOUSE DEMOCRATS are talking about skipping the State of the Union in January.

THE PRESIDENT is at Trump International Golf Club this morning. He is scheduled to return to Washington later today. TRUMP’S MONDAY: The president is lunching with VP Mike Pence and Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue. He will also sign a space policy directive.

Story Continued Below

BEHIND THE SCENES AT 1600 — THE BIG STORY — “INSIDE TRUMP’S HOUR-BY-HOUR BATTLE FOR SELF-PRESERVATION,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush and Peter Baker: “Around 5:30 each morning, President Trump wakes and tunes into the television in the White House’s master bedroom. He flips to CNN for news, moves to ‘Fox & Friends’ for comfort and messaging ideas, and sometimes watches MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ because, friends suspect, it fires him up for the day.

“Energized, infuriated — often a gumbo of both — Mr. Trump grabs his iPhone. Sometimes he tweets while propped on his pillow, according to aides. Other times he tweets from the den next door, watching another television. Less frequently, he makes his way up the hall to the ornate Treaty Room, sometimes dressed for the day, sometimes still in night clothes, where he begins his official and unofficial calls.

“As he ends his first year in office, Mr. Trump is redefining what it means to be president. He sees the highest office in the land much as he did the night of his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton — as a prize he must fight to protect every waking moment, and Twitter is his Excalibur. Despite all his bluster, he views himself less as a titan dominating the world stage than a maligned outsider engaged in a struggle to be taken seriously, according to interviews with 60 advisers, associates, friends and members of Congress.

“For other presidents, every day is a test of how to lead a country, not just a faction, balancing competing interests. For Mr. Trump, every day is an hour-by-hour battle for self-preservation. He still relitigates last year’s election, convinced that the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, into Russia’s interference is a plot to delegitimize him. Color-coded maps highlighting the counties he won were hung on the White House walls. …

— KEY PARAGRAPH: “Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals. People close to him estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television, sometimes with the volume muted, marinating in the no-holds-barred wars of cable news and eager to fire back.” http://nyti.ms/2Ap5Fe1

— NYT NOTE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STORY: “Glenn Thrush contributed to this article before he was suspended pending the result of an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior.”

IN ISRAEL — AP at 7:51 a.m.: “JERUSALEM (AP) – Israeli police: Security guard seriously wounded in stabbing at Jerusalem’s central bus station.”

— DAVID KENNER in Foreign Policy: “Trump Administration Blindsided Palestinian Leaders on Jerusalem Designation”: “Just last week, Palestinian diplomats were cautiously optimistic that U.S. President Donald Trump was on a path that could deliver what the president termed the ‘ultimate deal’ — a negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“According to a senior Palestinian official, their optimism was bolstered by a series of interactions with Trump, culminating in a previously unreported meeting on Nov. 30. The meeting included Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner, Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt, and Deputy National Security Advisor Dina Powell, who met with three senior Palestinian intelligence and diplomatic officials.

“The American side, however, did not inform the Palestinian delegation that Trump would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital at the meeting — even though the president had insisted on doing so in internal deliberations days earlier.

“The meeting, which was confirmed by a National Security Council official, a former U.S. diplomat, and a senior Palestinian official, was held as the first news reports that the Trump administration would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital were already breaking. The Palestinian delegation asked whether Trump would sign the waiver to prevent the U.S. Embassy from moving to Jerusalem, which the president did sign this week, but the American side did not volunteer the additional information about Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem.” http://atfp.co/2BXzm37

— “Israeli defense chief calls for Arab boycott after protests,” by AP’s Aron Heller in Jerusalem: “Israel’s defense minister called Sunday for a boycott of Arab businesses in an area where residents took part in violent protests against President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party, said the Arabs of Wadi Ara in northern Israel were ‘not part of us’ and that Jewish Israelis should no longer visit their villages and buy their products. Hundreds of Israeli Arabs protested Saturday along a major highway in northern Israel, where dozens of masked rioters hurled stones at buses and police vehicles. Three Israelis were wounded and several vehicles were damaged.” http://bit.ly/2kNVOYg

— REUTERS/BEIRUT: “Violence flares at protest near U.S. Embassy in Lebanon”: “Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water canons at protesters near the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon on Sunday during a demonstration against President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.” http://reut.rs/2Ar3max

— CHEAT SHEET: “The Jerusalem Issue, Explained,” by NYT’s Max Fisher: http://nyti.ms/2ycz6u5

CALLING IN THE REINFORCEMENTS — “Booker, Patrick rally black Alabamians for Jones,” by Gabe Debenedetti in Selma, Alabama: “Democrat Doug Jones needs African-American voters to turn out in big numbers for him to have a shot at beating Roy Moore in Tuesday’s Alabama Senate election. So the former U.S. attorney brought in two of his most prominent surrogates on Saturday to help: New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick.

“Their message, amid fears of lagging enthusiasm among black voters and polls showing a neck-and-neck race between Jones and Moore, was that there is no simply excuse for not voting in this election. ‘I know you all made, already, a million phone calls, but I’m here to try to get some folk woke,’ said Booker, addressing a crowd of roughly 200 at Alabama State University in Montgomery, three hours after Patrick appeared with Jones in Selma. ‘Some people don’t understand: the opposite of justice is not injustice. It is inaction and indifference.’ ‘Bad people get elected when good people don’t vote,’ Booker added.” http://politi.co/2jDvmx6

— THE STEP BACK: “Alabama, Despite History of Unruly Politics, Has ‘Never Seen Anything Like This’,” by NYT’s Campbell Robertson and Jonathan Martin in Montgomery, Alabama: “‘I don’t think you can compare this one with anything,’ said Bill Baxley, 76, whose first foray into Alabama state politics was as attorney general nearly five decades ago. ‘I haven’t seen in my lifetime — a long time, I’m 83 going on 84 — one this unique,’ said Sen. Richard C. Shelby, who was first elected to the State Legislature in 1970 and is now the dean of the Alabama congressional delegation.

“‘Never seen anything like this,’ said Glen Browder, 74, a former congressman, during whose political career different Alabama governors were convicted of bribery, brought down by sex scandal and indicted on a charge of stealing money to buy fancy shower stalls and a riding lawn mower.

“The special Senate election here, to be decided Tuesday, has made for one wild and ugly campaign season. It was never going to be afternoon tea, but with the airing of allegations in November that Roy S. Moore, the Republican nominee, had hounded and molested teenage girls when he was in his 30s, the race tightened — and the dialogue went south. Mr. Moore has gone about creating a real-life political science experiment, testing whether last year’s presidential campaign was an anomaly or whether voters remain just as willing to shrug off truth-stretching, multiple charges of sexual misconduct and incendiary speech.” http://nyti.ms/2BXI41j

WAPO’S BOB COSTA and MICHAEL SCHERER: “Bitter Senate race tests Alabama’s image in the country — and at home”: “For many Alabama voters, unaccustomed to a competitive election and the national attention that has come with it, the bitter showdown between Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones has become something more personal than a race to fill an open Senate seat. It is now a referendum on the state’s identity. Supporters of Jones say with concern that a win Tuesday by the firebrand Moore would derail the state’s efforts to escape its painful history and rebrand as a forward-thinking place welcoming to Fortune 500 companies and a highly educated workforce.

“And they express a nagging feeling that a Moore victory would be a deflating sign that Alabama remains beholden to its past. … Supporters of Moore, meanwhile, see his candidacy as a conduit for their rejection of the national media and political elites who they believe unfairly caricature their home state as a cultural backwater.” http://wapo.st/2jlYfB6

— WAPO’S DAN BALZ: “For Republicans, there likely can be no truly good outcome. If Moore wins, the party will have preserved the seat but will be saddled with a new senator under a cloud of allegations, including assaulting a teenager many years ago as well as a pattern of pursuing teenagers half his age when he was in his 30s. If he wins and is sworn in, he probably will face an ethics investigation that will keep the controversy alive until his fate is resolved and perhaps much longer than that. For the Republicans, it’s a hot mess.” http://wapo.st/2BR5hRQ

— HOWELL RAINES (former NYT exec editor): “In a sense we are all Alabamians now, wincing when sophisticates abroad satirize our willingness to be beguiled by abnormality. Electing Mr. Jones, who is admired nationally for prosecuting racial crimes, would be a cultural watershed for Alabama voters and a sign that the Trump base will fracture with unexpected ease. Deep in their bones, Alabamians know that if Roy Moore goes to Washington, the wardrobe department at ‘Saturday Night Live’ will surely accommodate them by finding a cowboy vest, a tiny pistol and a Girl Scout dress, and they’re prepared to feel very put upon.” http://nyti.ms/2Arg1tW

****** A message from PhRMA: A medicine’s path from the biopharmaceutical company to the patient involves many entities across the supply chain. A new report examines how money flows through this system – which includes wholesalers, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies and insurers – and how that impacts what patients pay at the pharmacy. Read more. http://onphr.ma/2kgd6Nu ******

ISAAC DOVERE — “Why Democrats win even if they lose in Alabama”: “Democrats head into Tuesday’s Senate election in Alabama confident that they’ll come out on top no matter who wins. And many Republicans agree with them. If Doug Jones prevails, Democrats expect it will further excite their base, bolster candidate recruitment and fuel fundraising heading into 2018, coming off their near-sweep of last month’s elections. They will revel in picking up a Senate seat in the Deep South, especially in a state so central to President Donald Trump’s political rise and where he earlier backed the loser of the GOP primary. Practically, Republicans would have a 51-49 Senate majority, leaving them with a single vote to spare assuming Democrats stick together.

“But the alternative won’t make for bad politics, either, Democrats say. If Roy Moore wins, they’ll spend the next year yoking every Republican they can to the accused child predator and a president who welcomed him into the GOP fold. They’ll be quick to remind everyone of all the other comments Moore has made against Muslims and gays and in favor of Vladimir Putin’s view of America as evil, as well as his rosy view of slave-era America. ‘He’ll be the gift that keeps on giving for Democrats. If you’re running in 2018, Roy Moore’s going to be your new best friend. As a Republican, to think that you can win without the baggage of Roy Moore is pretty naïve,’ said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).” http://politi.co/2jkfF0U

— “Trump to cut robocall for Moore,” by Alex Isenstadt in Mobile, Alabama: “Donald Trump has agreed to record a robocall for Alabama Republican Roy Moore ahead of next week’s special election, the president’s most direct involvement in Alabama on behalf of the embattled candidate to date. The call, according to a source close to the Moore campaign, is expected to go out to Alabama voters on Monday, a day before the election.” http://politi.co/2A8teU5

SUNDAY BEST, ROY MOORE EDITION — JAKE TAPPER talks to SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R-ALA.) — in Tuscaloosa — on CNN’S “STATE OF THE UNION”: SHELBY: “Well, I’d rather see the Republican win. But I hope that Republican would be a write in. I couldn’t vote for Roy Moore. I didn’t vote for Roy Moore. But I wrote in a distinguished Republican name and I think a lot of people could do that. Will they do it? I’m not sure. I don’t know what’s going to happen. As a Republican, I had to vote Republican. I wanted to vote Republican. I understand where the president is coming from. I understand we would like to retain that seat in the U.S. Senate. But I tell you what, there’s a time — we call it a tipping point — and I think so many accusations, so many cuts, so many drip, drip, drip. When it got to the 14 year old story, that was enough for me. I said I can’t vote for Roy Moore.”

TAPPER: “You’re going to wake up on Wednesday, and one of these two men, Roy Moore or Doug Jones, is going to be your fellow senator from Alabama. Which one would you rather deal with on a professional level?”

SHELBY: “Well, I don’t have to answer that question today. I — I had rather see another Republican in there, and I’m going to stay with that story. I’m not going to vote for the Democrat. I didn’t vote for the Democrat or advocate for the Democrat. But I couldn’t vote for Roy Moore. The state of Alabama deserves better. I think we have got a lot of great Republicans that could have won and carried the state beautifully and served in the Senate honorably.”

CHUCK TODD talks to SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.): TODD: “You know, there’s been some concern that the election of Roy Moore is just going to send a larger negative message about what the Republican Party stands for. You have been somebody, as a leader in the party, to try to talk about inclusion. I wonder if comments like this that Roy Moore said when he was revering the age of slavery when he said, ‘I think it was a great time in America at the time when families were united, even though we had slavery. They cared for one another. People were strong in their families.’

“And then I thought about that quote and this tweet from Steve King earlier this week. And he says this, ‘Diversity is not our strength.’ And then he quotes Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán quote, ‘Mixing cultures will not lead to a higher quality of life, but a lower one.’ This stuff inside your party, look Sen. Scott, I know you don’t want to associate yourself with that. But it’s associated with the Republican party. What do you do about this?

SCOTT: “Well, very little that I can do about people who speak ignorantly. And you just have to call it for what it is, No. 1. No. 2, the bottom line is both when Steve King and Tim Scott arrived in this country, we were actually creating diversity because the Native Americans were already here. So that is just a ridiculous statement. Listen, I wasn’t supporting Roy Moore before the allegations. The allegations reinforced why I wasn’t there. The good news is, thank God for leaders like John Ratcliffe, Trey Gowdy, Mia Love, a diverse group of young thinkers who will take our country and our party in a better direction.”

— MARTHA RADDATZ speaks with REP. TERRI SEWELL (D-ALA.) on ABC’S “THIS WEEK”: RADDATZ: “And congresswoman, I want to get your reaction to [a] mailer that the Jones campaign sent out to voters, which says, ‘think if a black man went after high school girls anyone would try to make him a Senator?’ Many view that mailer as racially insensitive. One African-American voter told a local news outlet he no longer plans to vote after receiving the ad, saying, for his campaign to put this flyer out it is a complete slap in the face. You’re the only African-American representing Alabama in Congress. Was that a mistake?”

SEWELL: “Listen, ads don’t, mailers don’t vote, it’s people who vote. And I really believe that the folks of Alabama will see through all of this nonsense about Roy Moore. At the end of the day…” RADDATZ: “But was that mailer a mistake? Do you think that was a mistake? I know people vote and mailers don’t, but was it a mistake?” SEWELL: “Yeah. Well, listen, I don’t think that the folks are concentrating on one piece of literature. I think that we have to look at the whole body of evidence and facts that Doug Jones has been, you know, saying as to why he is the right candidate for the state of Alabama.”

CLIP AND SAVE — NIKKI HALEY told CHRIS WALLACE on “Fox News Sunday” that she wouldn’t take secretary of State of she was offered. She said she’s happy in New York.

AROUND THE TAX REFORM HORN …

— “As tax plan gained steam, GOP lost focus on the middle class,” by WaPo’s Damien Paletta: “The GOP tax plan on the cusp of becoming law diverges wildly from the promises President Trump and top advisers said they would deliver for the middle class — an evolution that shows how traditional Republican orthodoxy swamped Trump’s distinctive brand of economic populism as it moved through Washington. The bill was supposed to deliver benefits predominantly to average working families, not corporations, with a 35 percent tax cut Trump proposed on the campaign trail as part of the ‘Middle Class Tax Relief and Simplification Act.’ …

“But the final product is looking much different, the result of a partisan policymaking process that largely took place behind closed doors, faced intense pressure from corporate lobbyists and ultimately fell in line with GOP wish lists. As top lawmakers from the House and the Senate now rush to complete negotiations to push the tax plan into law, it amounts to a massive corporate tax cut, with uneven — and temporary — benefits for the middle class that could end up increasing taxes for many working families in future years.” http://wapo.st/2kNXReU

— TRUMP ON TAX REFORM: @realDonaldTrump at 8:35 a.m.: “Getting closer and closer on the Tax Cut Bill. Shaping up even better than projected. House and Senate working very hard and smart. End result will be not only important, but SPECIAL!” … at 8:30 a.m.: “Things are going really well for our economy, a subject the Fake News spends as little time as possible discussing! Stock Market hit another RECORD HIGH, unemployment is now at a 17 year low and companies are coming back into the USA. Really good news, and much more to come!”

ON THE WILDFIRES — “Southern California’s fire devastation is ‘the new normal,’ Gov. Brown says,” by L.A. Times’ Ruben Vives, Melissa Etehad and Jaclyn Cosgrove: “Gov. Jerry Brown surveyed the devastation Saturday in Ventura — the area hardest hit by firestorms that have displaced nearly 90,000 people in Southern California — calling it ‘the new normal.’ The visit came four days after Brown declared a state of emergency in response to the wildfires. In all, blazes from Ojai to Oceanside have destroyed more than 790 structures and burned 175,000 acres.” http://bit.ly/2nRk8K7

ZINKE RESPONDS — “Zinke attacks reporting on helicopter rides,” by Ben Lefebvre: “Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on Saturday attacked POLITICO’s coverage of his use of $14,000 in taxpayer-funded helicopter rides in the D.C. area — but offered no facts that contradicted the story that ran Thursday. ‘Here are the #facts the DC media refuses to print,’ Zinke said in a statement on his official Twitter account.

“‘Recent articles about official Interior Department helicopter usage are total fabrications and a wild departure from reality.’ His statement went on to note — as POLITICO’s story had said — that the trips in question had included a visit to an emergency management exercise in West Virginia and a flyover of a power line project in Virginia. Zinke also defended a separate helicopter flight last summer over two national monuments in Nevada. POLITICO had reported in September on that flight, which Interior Department documents said cost at least $40,000.

“POLITICO’s reporting was based on records that the Interior Department had released under the Freedom of Information Act. Zinke’s travels got more attention Friday in a follow-up story by The Associated Press that mentioned all the helicopter trips.” http://politi.co/2iLKlEd … Ben’s original story http://politi.co/2BOD0Lw

— SPOTTED: ZINKE dining with family at Landini Brothers Restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, last night.

WHAT CONSERVATIVES ARE READING — “Republicans step up defense of ‘not qualified’ judicial nominees,” by Seung Min Kim and John Bresnahan: “Senate Republicans have declared war on the American Bar Association. Since 1953, the venerable legal organization has played a critical, behind-the-scenes role in assessing judicial nominees and their fitness to serve on the bench. But with the ABA emerging as a major stumbling block in President Donald Trump’s effort to transform the courts, the GOP is accusing the non-partisan group of holding a liberal slant and is seeking to sideline it.

“The ABA has deemed at least four of Trump’s judicial nominees ‘not qualified’ – a high number, although other administrations evaluated candidates privately before they were nominated. Democrats warn of dire consequences of ignoring the group’s evaluations. But Republicans are intent on a dramatic reshaping of the federal judiciary that could last for decades and so far, haven’t been persuaded by the ABA’s ratings.” http://politi.co/2BPLulW

MEDIA CRITIC IN CHIEF — @realDonaldTrump at 6:14 p.m.: “.@daveweigel of the Washington Post just admitted that his picture was a FAKE (fraud?) showing an almost empty arena last night for my speech in Pensacola when, in fact, he knew the arena was packed (as shown also on T.V.). FAKE NEWS, he should be fired.” … at 5:01 p.m.: “.@DaveWeigel @WashingtonPost put out a phony photo of an empty arena hours before I arrived @ the venue, w/ thousands of people outside, on their way in. Real photos now shown as I spoke. Packed house, many people unable to get in. Demand apology & retraction from FAKE NEWS WaPo!”

— @daveweigel at 5:04 p.m. replying to Trump: “Sure thing: I apologize. I deleted the photo after @dmartosko told me I’d gotten it wrong. Was confused by the image of you walking in the bottom right corner.”

— @NicolleDWallace: “Some free PR advice for my pals in the media – Donald Trump would love to have a fight about whether the press tells the truth – FACT: there are higher standards in every newsroom than on potus twitter feed and White House press briefing- do not take the bait. Carry on.”

LISTEN IN to the latest bonus Playbook Audio Briefing episode from our live recording Thursday night at Sixth and I Synagogue. Today we’re posting Jake and Anna’s discussion with NRCC’S JOHN ROGERS and DCCC’S DAN SENA http://bit.ly/2iMHyuF Make sure you subscribe on your favorite podcasting app (Apple Podcasts http://apple.co/2uK0bDc … Stitcher http://bit.ly/2BTyvQZ) so you don’t miss our daily briefings.

— ICYMI here’s a link to our talk with NYT’S Michael Barbaro http://bit.ly/2AGWD96 and POLITICO all-star panel of Seung Min Kim, Rachael Bade and Annie Karni http://bit.ly/2iGgf4X

FUN CLICK — SNL’s “Visit with Santa Cold Open” — “Santa Claus (Kenan Thompson) and his elf (Kate McKinnon) field some uncomfortable Christmas present requests” from kids related to politics. 6-min. video http://bit.ly/2iMtO2P

PHOTO DU JOUR: An Army Black Knights cadet celebrates the win over the Navy Midshipmen on Dec. 9 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Army beat Navy 14-13. | Elsa/Getty Images

AT FOGGY BOTTOM — “U.S. Diplomat’s Resignation Signals Wider Exodus From State Department,” by FP’s Dan De Luce and Robbie Gramer: “An award-winning U.S. diplomat who was seen as a rising star at the State Department has issued a scathing resignation letter, accusing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the Donald Trump administration of undercutting the State Department and damaging America’s influence in the world. Elizabeth Shackelford, who most recently served as a political officer based in Nairobi for the U.S. mission to Somalia, wrote to Tillerson that she reluctantly had decided to quit because the administration had abandoned human rights as a priority and shown disdain for the State Department’s diplomatic work, according to her letter, obtained by Foreign Policy.

“‘I have deep respect for the career Foreign and Civil Service staff who, despite the stinging disrespect this Administration has shown our profession, continue the struggle to keep our foreign policy on the positive trajectory necessary to avert global disaster in increasingly dangerous times,’ Shackelford wrote in her Nov. 7 letter, which is published below. One phrase was redacted on Shackelford’s request. ‘With each passing day, however, this task grows more futile, driving the Department’s experienced and talented staff away in ever greater numbers,’ she wrote.

“Her former colleagues said her departure — and the sentiments expressed in her letter — reflect a wider exodus of midcareer diplomats who have lost confidence in Tillerson’s management and the Trump administration’s approach toward diplomacy. ‘She’s emblematic of what we’re losing across the board,’ said one of Shackelford’s former State Department colleagues. ‘She is the best among us. We should not be losing the best among us. And that should concern people that we are,’ the former colleague said.” http://atfp.co/2ASUiKz

VALLEY TALK — “Tech’s new D.C. partner: Charles Koch,” by Nancy Scola: “The tech industry has found a surprising new ally in its effort to shape public policy in Washington: the 82-year-old libertarian billionaire Charles Koch. Two organizations founded by Koch, one an education-focused institute and the other a grant-making foundation, have spent the past year ramping up their efforts to shape public debate on tech policy topics like self-driving cars and the rights of online publishers.

“And despite their ideological distance on issues like the Paris climate accord, the Koch groups and left-leaning Silicon Valley are working together to advance the argument that innovation is most likely to flourish when legislators and regulators leave it alone. … The deep-pocketed Koch groups have the resources to help tech put on educational events, co-host conferences and fund academic research. But the alliance with Charles Koch also allows Silicon Valley to expand its contacts and influence in the age of Donald Trump — in a Washington that looks much different from what the tech executives who supported Hillary Clinton had expected after the 2016 election.

“For an industry in need of new friends in D.C., amid threats of antitrust scrutiny and criticism of its role in enabling Russian election interference, the Kochs’ deep ties to conservative circles may prove useful.” http://politi.co/2kPTf7V

****** A message from PhRMA: A medicine’s path from the biopharmaceutical company to the patient involves many entities across the supply chain. A new report examines how money flows through this system – which includes wholesalers, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacies and insurers – and how that impacts what patients pay at the pharmacy. Read more. http://onphr.ma/2kgd6Nu ******

DEMS TRY TO MOVE FORWARD — “DNC ‘unity’ panel recommends huge cut in superdelegates,” by Kevin Robillard: “A commission set up to help reform the Democratic presidential nominating process has voted to restrict the number of superdelegates as part of a slew of changes. The Democratic Party’s Unity Reform Commission is recommending cutting the number of superdelegates by about 400, equal to a 60 percent reduction. Many of the remaining superdelegates would see their vote tied to the results in their state.

“The commission is also suggesting that absentee voting be required as an option for presidential caucus participants. It is calling for automatic voter registration and same-day voter registration. And it wants to mandate public reporting of raw vote totals from caucus states. The recommendations will now go to the Democratic National Committee’s rules and bylaws committee, and then likely to the full 447-member Democratic National Committee for consideration sometime next year, where it will need two-thirds support to pass.” http://politi.co/2ARNnkR

— “Democrats eye gains in Pennsylvania trial on ‘goofy’ gerrymandering,” by Reuters’ Joseph Ax in Lower Merion, Pennsylvania: “The 7th congressional district has become a national poster child for critics of gerrymandering, the process by which one party draws district boundaries to ensure an advantage among voters. Democrats say the lines have helped Republicans like U.S. Representative Patrick Meehan, the four-term incumbent [Democrat Daylin] Leach seeks to unseat, to stay in office.

“That could soon change, however. On Monday in state court in Harrisburg, one of three lawsuits challenging those boundaries heads to trial. The outcome could shift several battleground districts in Pennsylvania and in turn boost the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, where they last held the majority from January 2009 to January 2011. The 7th district is so precisely engineered that at one point it narrows to the width of a single seafood restaurant, snaking past two other congressional districts so it can link two far flung Republican-leaning areas.” http://reut.rs/2iO5fCG

BONUS GREAT WEEKEND READS, curated by Daniel Lippman:

— “Tales of War and Redemption,” by Phil Klay in the American Scholar: “A soldier may call out to God while in combat, but the experiences that cause him to do so might be the very ones that later cause him to abandon his faith altogether. What kind of God would allow any of the innumerable things that happen in a war zone? This old complaint takes on a particular urgency when you’ve seen children dying slowly after going through more pain than any human being should ever experience.” http://bit.ly/2y80OIn

— “Chronicler of Islamic State ‘killing machine’ goes public,” by AP’s Lori Hinnant and Maggie Michael: “For nearly two years, he’d wandered the streets of occupied Mosul, chatting with shopkeepers and Islamic State fighters, visiting friends who worked at the hospital, swapping scraps of information. … He forced himself to witness the beheadings and deaths by stoning, so he could hear the killers call out the names of the condemned and their supposed crimes. … He wasn’t a spy. He was an undercover historian and blogger.” http://bit.ly/2BP4iS4

— “Hillary Clinton meets Mary Beard: “I would love to have told Trump: ‘Back off, you creep,’” by Decca Aitkenhead in the Guardian: Clinton: “There is a deliberate, very well-organised, sophisticated assault on facts and reason and evidence. In our country, it’s driven originally by a cabal of billionaires and religious fundamentalists, and their view is that it doesn’t matter what they say. If they say it often enough and they put enough money behind it, they’ll convince a significant number of people.” http://bit.ly/2BheTsV (h/t TheBrowser.com)

— “The Consent of the (Un)governed,” by Laurie Penny in Longreads: “The search for a more human understanding of power and consent is not simply stage-dressing for a bigger fight. It is the big fight. It’s all about the grabby old men, and it always has been.” http://bit.ly/2nFAvsZ

— “My Experience at Charlie Rose Went Beyond Sexism,” by Rebecca Carroll in Esquire: “In 1997, I joined the production team of Charlie Rose’s popular interview show. I was the only black journalist on staff. … Twenty years later, in this watershed moment of examination and reckoning as one powerful white man after another is disgraced … we’re still not talking about the ramifications for black women — or the broader connection to structural racism in America.” http://bit.ly/2jxjMUb

— “Ryan Zinke Is Trump’s Attack Dog on the Environment,” by Elliott D. Woods in Outside: “Early in his political career, the interior secretary irked fellow Republicans with his willingness to stand up for conservation. Things have changed, and whether you love or hate his ideas, know this: he’s one of the few Trump-era cabinet secretaries with the juice to make things happen, and he’s got the boss’s back.” http://bit.ly/2BXFXKP

— “Can Sexual Predators Be Good Scholars?” by Becca Rothfeld in the Chronicle of Higher Ed – per ALDaily.com’s description: “Writing and thinking are intimate activities. Does that suggest brilliant men pay an intellectual price for mistreating women? It’s comforting — and certainly false — to think so.” http://bit.ly/2A4VQO8

— “Success Academy’s Radical Educational Experiment,” by the New Yorker’s Rebecca Mead: “Inside Eva Moskowitz’s quest to combine rigid discipline with a progressive curriculum.” http://bit.ly/2AHgDIR

— “The true story of the fake U.S. embassy in Ghana,” by Yepoka Yeebo in the Guardian: “Last year, the U.S. State Department said it had uncovered a fake embassy in Accra that had been issuing a stream of forged visas. The story went viral – but all was not as it seemed.” http://bit.ly/2j9jaXU

— “Young Americans,” by Michael Hall in the December issue of Texas Monthly: “Pedro Villalobos is a star prosecutor. Gerardo De Loera is a musician. Joseph Ramirez is a tech entrepreneur. They’re young, they’re smart, they make America great. They’re also undocumented, able to live in the country legally under controversial legislation set to end. Now, with time running out as Congress mulls their fate, they—and thousands more like them—face being sent back to a place they’ve never called home.” http://bit.ly/2BUWBuF

— “When Does Work Actually Get Done?” – Priceonomics: “Sustaining focus year-round is more of a Herculean pipe-dream than a reality of the modern workplace. We come into the office with resolve and determination, pump out a few tasks, eat lunch, then gradually deteriorate into a potpourri of Reddit posts and cat videos. But there are certain times where we’re more likely to get our work done.” http://bit.ly/2jcS1Dn

— “Millennials Have Officially Killed the Holiday Office Party – Thanks Vox.com,” by The Weekly Standard’s Matt Labash: “It is a time-honored tradition … Show up to your company’s voluntary holiday gathering, where absences are informally noted by supervisors who will passive-aggressively punish the missing come January. Pretend you enjoy socializing with colleagues that you wouldn’t invite over to your house on a dare.” http://tws.io/2kPe1Vk

— “9 common-sense rules for getting the most out of meetings,” by Ray Dalio on TED.com: “Veteran financier Ray Dalio has been in every kind of meeting: the good, the bad and the ugly. Here’s how he keeps his meetings focused and productive.” http://bit.ly/2iGmPIH

— “Longform Podcast#273: Zoe Chace,” a reporter and producer at “This American Life”: “Radio is a movie in your head. It’s a very visual thing. It’s a transporting thing—when it’s done well. And it’s louder than your thoughts. It is both of those things. It would just take me out of the place that I was, where I was lost and couldn’t figure things out.” http://bit.ly/2AGqheT

— “Will Trump Inspire the Next Great American Novel?” by Tom Rosenstiel in POLITICO Magazine: “Once upon a time, Washington spawned towering works of political fiction. What about now?” http://politi.co/2kaApEP

SPOTTED: John Kerry and Jon Hamm on Thursday night at “Hamilton” in London’s West End, where the two took a selfie together at the Victoria Palace Theatre. Kerry first met Hamm after Kerry’s speech at the Charlotte Democratic Convention in 2012. While in London, Kerry had a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace climate change dinner with Ambassador Bill Burns and met with friends from Parliament (both Labour and Tory) who work on foreign policy. Kerry, whose birthday is tomorrow, is heading to Paris for French President Emmanuel Macron’s Tuesday climate change conference titled “One Planet” …

… Rex Tillerson doing the opening coin-toss at the Army-Navy game yesterday in Philly. Also in the stands: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford and State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert with her brother Joe Nauert, a Navy midshipman — pic of the Army kids storming the field after they won 14-13 http://bit.ly/2BsFmUn … Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) last night in the lobby of the Kimpton Lorien Hotel and Spa on King Street in Old Town Alexandria

HOLIDAY PARTY CIRCUIT — SPOTTED at Ron and Sara Bonjean’s annual Christmas party last night at their house in Alexandria where the special surprise celebrity guest was Tori Spelling: Don and Shannon McGahn, Sean Spicer (pic of Sean and Spelling: http://bit.ly/2BqYKkI), Rodell Mollineau, Brian Walsh, Doug Heye, Brian Baker, Aaron Keyak, Tim Burger, Scott Mulhauser and Kara Carscaden, Brad Rateike, Adam Kennedy, Zach Parkinson, Tyler Ross, Sarah Westwood and Jon Conradi, Michelle Fields and Jamie Weinstein, Janet Donovan, Michael and Mary Kathryn Steel, Sam Feist, Polson Kanneth, Marie Harf and Joshua Lucas, Dan Conston, Kelley Hudak, Lauren French, Mark Paustenbach, Mitchell Rivard …

… Andrew Kovalcin, Craig Gordon, Michael LaRosa, Steve Shepard, Benny and Katelyn Rieley Johnson, Brian Danza, Mike Dubke, Michael Falcone, Zeke Miller, Josh and Ali Rogin, Jahan Wilcox, Hadas Gold, Rob Saliterman, Bill McQuillen, Lauren Pratapas, Matt Dornic, Hanna Hope, Neil Grace, Jeff Grappone, Matt and Rebecca Haller, Liz Johnson, Stuart Roy, Steve Shepard, Robert and Katie Zirkelbach, Ben Jenkins, Sean Sullivan, Kevin Sheridan and Erika Gutierrez, Patrick O’Connor, Alice Lloyd, Jenna Lifhits, Hannah Yoest, Meridith McGraw, Vanessa Morrone and Mike Ambrosini, Becca Glover, Katy Summerlin, Ryan Hughes, Eli Yokley.

SPOTTED at Robert Draper and Kirsten Powers’ holiday party yesterday at their house near Catholic University: Chris Stirewalt, Karen Tumulty, Alice Stewart, Juleanna Glover, Christopher Hale, Brendan Buck and Rebecca Berg, Rebecca Cutler, Todd Harris, Tim Burger, Doug Heye, Phil Rucker, David Swerdlick, Sally Quinn, Asawin Suebsaeng and Elizabeth Brown.

WEEKEND WEDDING — OBAMA ALUMNI — “Mary Baskerville, Theodore Newman”: “Ms. Baskerville, 30, is a public relations manager in the corporate and financial practice of Burson-Marsteller in New York. Until January, she was a sponsorship manager at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, part of the Clinton Foundation. She graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va. … Mr. Newman, 35, is an insurance claims manager at the Starr Companies, an insurance and financial services company in New York. He graduated from Northwestern and received a law degree from American University. … The couple met in 2013 at a happy hour at Alero, a Mexican restaurant in Washington. Ms. Baskerville was working in press advance for the Obama administration.” With pic http://nyti.ms/2yWdZj5

BIRTHDAYS OF THE DAY: Megan Whittemore, deputy chief of staff for Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and VP of the Senate Press Secretaries Association. A trend she thinks deserves more attention: “Opposites really do attract. My husband and I are a bipartisan couple living and working in a partisan political city, and I believe we can always use more bipartisanship in this town. That’s why I enjoy working with the Senate Press Secretaries Association, which is one of the few bipartisan organizations on the Hill that help bring people together.” Read her Playbook Plus Q&A: http://politi.co/2AIhQzE

… Dateline NBC correspondent Andrea Canning. How she got her start in journalism: “I started at ‘Extra,’ where I babysat editors’ kids so they’d make my resume reel for me. I mailed out 50 VHS tapes and was off to Greenville, MS for my first on-air job.” Q&A: http://politi.co/2BZ2reh

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): Brian McGuire, policy director at Brownstein Hyatt and a McConnell alum, who celebrated with his wife Ashley in New York City for the day (hat tip: Scott Jennings, who was on time).

BIRTHDAYS: Mike Shields of Convergence Media and a CNN political commentator … Symone Sanders … Fox News’ Mike Emanuel is 5-0 (h/t James Rosen) … Mercury CEO Kieran Mahoney (h/t Jon Haber) … Michael Bodley … Justin Ahn … Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.) is 68 … Charlie Watkins … Politico Magazine’s Katie Fossett … former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is 61 … Greg Rothman … Misha Belikov, analyst at Point72 Asset Management … Google alum Steve Johnston (h/t Tim Burger) … Mitchell Rubenstein … N.Y. Daily News’ Erin Durkin … Robert Maguire … Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) is 48 … Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) is 57 … Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) is 64 … Edelman’s Shawn Stafford … Kip Wainscott, senior adviser on Silicon Valley at National Democratic Institute … Chris McGrath … Bill Baroni, former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey …

… Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) is 67. He’s “celebrating with his wife, children and grandchildren and is looking forward to a big birthday cake from world-renowned Rick’s Bakery in Fayetteville” (h/t Tim Griffin) … Jennifer Cox, chief of staff for Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) (h/t Mitchell Rivard) … Ryan Beene … Jackie Etter-Krause … Gigi Anders … Lisa Rowan … Tom Zampino … David French, SVP of gov’t relations at National Retail Federation … Ellie Bartow … Kristin Wilson Keppler … Matthew Gagnon is 37 … Doug Rosenthal … Don McDowell … Susan Milligan, political writer for U.S. News & World Report … David Kieve, partner at Hilltop Public Solutions … Laura De Castro … Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List … Doug Badger … Scott MacKay … Jess Peterson, president and CEO of Western Skies Strategies … Gloria Loring … Hope Hodge Seck … Mitchell Schwartz … Rick Siger … Michelle Mayorga … Wayne Smith (h/ts Teresa Vilmain)

****** A message from PhRMA: In the competitive marketplace for medicines, negotiations between pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and biopharmaceutical companies result in substantial rebates and fees. According to a new report, in many cases, this system often creates incentives for PBMs to prefer medicines with higher list prices and higher rebates. Read more about how money flows through the supply chain here: http://onphr.ma/2kgd6Nu ******

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