Slavenka & Obi

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Republican Party Could Recover as Early as 2096, Experts Say

In what is being described as a best-case scenario, some political experts are predicting that the Republicans could once again be a viable political party as early as the year 2096. Davis Logsdon, the head of the University of Minnesota’s political-science department, said on Saturday that the eighty-year time frame for the Republican Party to recover was “admittedly optimistic, but still doable.” “It’s not going to be easy, and they have very little margin for error,” Logsdon said. “But if they do everything right and a lot of things cut their way, they could be up and running as a somewhat serviceable political party as early as 2096.” According to the political strategist Tracy Klugian, however, Logsdon’s 2096 target date for the Republicans’ comeback is “laughably upbeat.” “In order for the G.O.P. to become even a marginally functional political party again, all memory of the 2016 campaign will have to be obliterated,” Klugian said. “That means everyone who witnessed it will have to be dead, and probably those people’s children, and their children’s children, too. I wouldn’t bet on the Republican Party recovering any earlier than the year 2132.” When asked about Klugian’s assessment, Logsdon said, “Yeah, 2132 is probably more like it.”
Andy Borowitz

All that Remains

“My Anxious Lungs” by Lauren Marx

Stranger Factory

Friday, October 7, 2016

Spherical Bear

Marc Johns

Dogs Enjoying the Autumn

Anne Geier, a photographer from Austria, has a beautiful gift of capturing soulful portraits of dogs. Some of her best work is created in autumn, thanks to the golden colors and a misty weather adding a perfect magical atmosphere, which makes the portrait stand out even more.

Berry Brunch

Photograph: Dean Mason/BBC/PA

Mutually-beneficial relationship

Photograph: Greatstock / Barcroft Images

Lonac

A giant banner of Vladimir Putin was draped over the Manhattan Bridge

On Wednesday, New Yorkers noticed a new addition to the view of the Manhattan Bridge. Out of the blue, a massive banner touting the Russian president as a "peacemaker" mysteriously appeared over the bridge's walkway. It is unclear as to who placed the banner or what the message intended.
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'Monster' Hurricane Matthew

Florida is facing the most dangerous storm in living memory as "monster" Hurricane Matthew barrels in from the Atlantic threatening coastal cities with surging tides, torrential rain and 130 mile-an-hour winds. continue

Hundreds dead in Haiti storm disaster

The death toll in Haiti as a result of Hurricane Matthew - the most powerful Caribbean storm in a decade - has soared to more than 300, officials say.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

The Morning After

Looking for the Masters in Ricardo’s Golden Shoes, Catherine Balet

People have been frightened by clowns for centuries

Clowns, as pranksters, jesters, jokers, harlequins, and mythologized tricksters have been around for ages. They appear in most cultures—Pygmy clowns made Egyptian pharaohs laugh in 2500 BCE; in ancient imperial China, a court clown called YuSze was, according to the lore, the only guy who could poke holes in Emperor Qin Shih Huang’s plan to paint the Great Wall of China; Hopi Native Americans had a tradition of clown-like characters who interrupted serious dance rituals with ludicrous antics. Ancient Rome’s clown was a stock fool called the stupidus; the court jesters of medieval Europe were a sanctioned way for people under the feudal thumb to laugh at the guys in charge; and well into the 18th and 19th century, the prevailing clown figure of Western Europe and Britain was the pantomime clown, who was a sort of bumbling buffoon.
But clowns have always had a dark side.
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Haruki Murakami named 4/1 favourite to win 2016 Nobel prize in literature

With a week to go before the revelation of this year’s Nobel literature laureate, internationally renowned names including Irish Booker winner John Banville and Japanese favourite Haruki Murakami are edging up the odds at bookmaker Ladbrokes. The Swedish Academy, the 18 members of which select the author they judge to have, in the words of Alfred Nobel’s will, “produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction”, has yet to officially unveil the date its announcement will be made. But the Academy’s Per Wästberg told Swedish press that the winner would be revealed on 13 October, denying suggestions that the date had been delayed from 6 October because of members disagreeing. On Thursday morning, Ladbrokes’ favourite to take the prize – at 4/1 – was the hugely popular Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami . continue

Glenn Barr – “Invisible World”

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

R2-D2 Coffee Press Is the Perfect Droid to Start Your Day off Right

For those who need some extra motivation to emerge from the covers, ThinkGeek has created the adorable R2-D2 Coffee Press.