Media, you’re doing it again

About 8 years ago a fight was brewing between President Barack Obama and Fox News. Obama did not approve of the company’s journalistic style and pretty much barred Fox News from anything to do with the administration. Other media outlets stayed mum. Until a year later, when as Mediate explains, other media took a stand  with FOX News.  Despite the brief camaraderie, media still let Obama get away with much over his tenure. Flash forward to now and media is again letting someone walk all over them. Namely. Donald Trump.  This time it was a Politico reporter who, while not given a press pass, did have a general admission ticket.  Media, this will only get worse if he gets in office.

Of Blue Angels and Thunderbirds

Yesterday was not a good day for military performance pilots. One pilot is dead after a crash involving the Navy’s Blue Angels occurred in the air above Smyrna, TN. The group was practicing maneuvers for an air show this weekend when the crash occurred. A pilot with the Air Force Thunderbirds was also involved in a crash yesterday but one in which he was able to walk away from after ejecting. The Thunderbirds were performing at a graduation ceremony above Colorado Springs, CO when the pilot reported he was having problems with his jet.

21st century petroglyphs

Since typing hasn’t destroyed our penmanship abilities fast enough, emoji have taken over as the new way to do away with words entirely. They’re like the hieroglyphs of the 21st century. It may have started as a simple smiley face but it evolved. A total of 72 new emoji have been approved by an organization that guides us in this matters. A few of the new ones include a taco, an owl, whiskey on the rocks, a silverback gorilla and what appears to be a hunting rifle with scope. There are new “faces”, but also a lot of foods.  Was the world crying out for a baguette emoji? Apparently so. Scroll down through this page from LA Times and you’ll see the new glyphs. I call them glyphs because much like the petroglyphs of a caveman and hieroglyphs of early Egypt we’re now relying on pictures to tell our tales.

Questioning Trump’s intelligence

More specifically, his ability to handle military intelligence. Reuter’s has up an interesting piece regarding the concerns some military intelligence officials have when it comes to an upcoming Top-Secret briefing. The story calls the briefing more of a broad overview of security issues rather than specific operations. He will be told what he can and cannot discuss while out in public. However, Trump has a tendency to shoot his mouth off without thinking and therein lies the problem. If there’s any good news to be had in this article, its that some of the officials have concerns over handing some of this same information to Hillary Clinton.

Quick Hits:

• A New York couple was moving into their new apartment when they found the previous tenant. Dead. And wrapped in plastic and blankets. The killer left a note saying “sorry for the smell.”  That’s thoughtful. Must be the New York values we hear so much about.
• Google Chrome extension, anti-Semitism harassment, and Jewish name detector are all connected. And in the midst of the madness it’s believed Donald Trump supporters may be involved.
• What jobs? The Fed’s jobs report came out today. Those in the know had expected 160,000 new jobs. What we got was 38,000. Abysmal.
• Hopefully, Monday will be the end of the gorilla-named-Harambe story. A Hamilton County Ohio prosecutor said he will announce Monday whether or not to bring charges against the family of the boy who fell into The enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Today is important because it’s National Doughnut Day. And not just because we love doughnuts. It’s because the day is in recognition of the Salvation Army “Lassies” of WWI who gave doughnuts to the troops. There may be a fundraising event going on in your area to raise funds for the Salvation Army today. Go ahead and give in to temptation.

That’s today’s Water Cooler. Enjoy the doughnuts.  Leave some thoughts for others to argue or agree with. The Water Cooler is always open thread.

*all emphasis mine