I am probably in the minority, albeit not a small one, among Kossacks, in that I’m both retired and don’t have to get ready to go to work in the morning, and I’m a widower with nobody to talk to in the morning.
Because I live in Oregon, when I wake up and tune in first thing to MSNBC there’s generally a lot of news and opinion. If I get up before six I catch the last part of Morning Joe. Then Stephanie Ruhle comes on at 6:00 AM.
Almost every morning I leash up Mac and Duff and head up to Waterfalls (right), the coffee shop in the senior community where I live at 10:00 AM. There I join a group of progressives as we fortify ourselves with strong coffee, try to resist the baked goods coming from the kitchen where we have two pastry chefs. We talk about Trump, about our frustrations, fears, and anger. It is good therapy.
Some people joke that I hold court there because I am the most regular regular sitting at the same anti-Trump table.
Here’s my morning ritual between waking up and going to Waterfalls.
With the TV on, I pop a Keurig cup into my coffee maker and let the dogs out on my fenced in patio, and open my laptop and check one of two things. If I posted a diary the night before to go on automatically at 4:00 AM I check to see if anybody has commented on it.
Then I check my email.
I admit it. Unless I posted something on Daily Kos it is the last website I go to, but that’s because I spend a lot of time there mostly reading the diaries on the right column.
I have a blog that a few people who know me look at. I like to post the stories that most interest me there.
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HuffPost
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Late Night TV Hosts Roast Trump By Releasing Their Own Mocking Michael Cohen Tapes - Videos
A Toxic ‘Brotherhood’: Inside Incels’ Dark Online World
Next, I check The New York Times and Washington Post opinion sections to see if there is anything that interests me there and that I want to share. There weren’t any essays on today. I also look at KOIN (a story about the 17 species of sharks found on the Oregon coast today) and KGW (e-scooters coming to Portland), the websites of our Portland, Oregon TV stations to see if there are any local stories of interest to me.
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The Daily Beast
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Why Is No One Talking About Tom Cruise and Scientology?
It’s heartening to see glowing reviews for the new ‘Mission: Impossible.’ We love great action movies. But the media should stop ignoring Cruise’s leadership role in Scientology.
Did you know: Elizabeth Moss, star of Handmaid's Tale, is also a Scientologist?
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Politico
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Corker on Trump's praise of Kim Jong Un: 'Really?' ... and he's a Republican
The Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee is retiring, which is what seems to take to speak the truth about Trump. HB
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump’s repeated praise of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a “talented” leader with a “great personality.”
“One in 10 North Koreans are living in slavery today,” Corker said during a Foreign Relations Committee hearing. “One in five children are stunted due to malnutrition. In the face of these realities, the president has called him very talented, and that he loves his people.”
“Really?” the Tennessee Republican added.
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Salon
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...however, John Edwards didn't have a following of worshipping zombies whose brains are only capable of one thing: voting.
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Slate
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The Far Right’s Pedophilia Smear Campaign Is Working:
How Mike Cernovich and his troll army are manufacturing outrage to take down Hollywood liberals
(I put this in the category of "be careful what you wish for" because I have a hunch (okay, a belief) that there are as many or more Republicans who have "tendencies." HB)
Buzzfeed
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The State Department Warned The Trump Administration Its Immigration Policies Could Strengthen Gangs Like MS-13
Internal reports issued in late 2017 found that ending temporary protected status for more than 300,000 Central Americans would run counter to US security interests. The Trump administration did it anyway.
Why? It's a long article so here's the gist of it:
"The lack of legitimate employment opportunities is likely to push some repatriated TPS holders, or their children, into the gangs or other illicit employment," a State Department report to the Department of Homeland Security about El Salvador said.
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VOX
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Why Eastern European countries aren’t attacking Trump over NATO
They’re on the front lines of Russian aggression. But Eastern Europe’s leaders won’t openly criticize Trump over NATO and Putin.
Summary: Eastern Europe knows it needs to stay in Trump’s good graces — whatever the cost, and Eastern European leaders are increasingly worried the US won’t come to their defense if attacked.
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Think Progress
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Update: Even Fox News condemned the White House for this.
“As a member of the White House press pool, Fox stands firmly with CNN on this issue of access,” Baier said on “Special Report.”
“Just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of the day doesn’t mean the question isn’t relevant and shouldn’t be asked,” Baier read from a statement released by CNN. “This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free press. We demand better.” NY Post
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Daily Kos
Finally, I go to Daily Kos to see what the staff and my fellow community members are writing about.
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AlterNet and RawStory
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Then I check Alternet and RawStory to see if they found stories I missed. Alternet has a growing number of writers publishing original articles now, including my favorite talk show host Thom Hartmann.
Alternet had a story on which related to the Oregon events link I already posted about an event coming to the country fairgrounds near where I live:
Oregon Events
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At some point, I check the private Facebook groups I belong to. One is limited to residents of the CCRC were I live, and the other has 80 members all of whom are anti-Trump therapists which psychoanalyst Howard Covitz (another Kossak) and I co-moderate. Later in the day I look at my Twitter feed to see if anybody liked or re-Tweeted a Tweet or story. (I was pleased to see Thom Hartmann sent me a Tweet thanks me for reviewing an article he wrote in one of my diaries.)
I also look at halbrown@gmx which is a safe email I use. I check it once a day. It doesn’t link back to my actual email. (You can always reach me there.)
I don’t look at Axios regularly though perhaps I ought to. Here’s an interesting story from today:
Jared and Ivanka dig in for the long haul
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What do you read in the morning?