Seems that The Global Elite Left just LOVES to shower themselves and their friends with various sorts of self-praise and strokes. (“Mental Masturbation”? Official Honors Onanism? One will refrain from references to the “gold” so bestowed in said “shower”…) Even a nominal Republican will be “honored”, just so long as they are committed to The Agenda.
In France, Hollande, on his way out the door as one of the lesser lights of Socialism and not very well liked, has awarded the Highest Honor In France to Arnold Schwarzenegger for his “environmental work”. Well, last I looked Arnie was busier boffing his Maid and losing his marriage over it when he got caught, then largely evaporating from public view. Well, not entirely gone, he does bad commercials for a video war game using his well-over-used tag lines… But hey, what could be more “progressive” than knocking up your maid, lying to your spouse, and then getting an award for your highest and greatest achievement that nobody noticed; that being to support a political agenda founded also on lies.
I weep for the Legion Of Honor, that it is now muddied by the likes of Hollande giving it to folks like Arnold for being either an idiot, or a liar, or potentially both; but having enough (fading) name recognition to get the story covered on Reuters…
The Roku version of Reuters is interesting. It has a format that lets you watch a summary of the news in your choice of 10, 15, or 30 minutes. I was curious what the difference actually was, in detail. Same stories but shorter? More coverage of some events? Different stories? So today I watch both the 15 and the 30 versions. (Yesterday I did the 10 and 15). Well, the Arnold story only showed up in the 30 minute segment. Not that big a deal, I guess. They add a few stories, re-run a couple from the short form from prior days, and that’s about it.
(Web searches for the Arnold story turned up a painfully formatted Daily Mail story – clearly designed for Windoz browsers so not long for my Arm Chip Screen; and a site in India. Maybe more will accumulate over time, but it isn’t a big story globally. So what I learned was that Reuters loves to wheedle in a “Progressive Left” bias. I’d noticed this on other days and other coverage, but this is a clear example. They generally are subtle about it, mostly being in what is left out; but on the weekends it is more blatant. I suspect their weekend editor is a younger more liberal person straight out of college, based on the more evident bias; not that the bias is missing mid-week, just better hidden. The weekend guy can’t resist some snark in the stories and some insults ‘to the person’, especially Trump, sometimes via ‘faint praise’ but often via snide asides and pejorative adjectives.)
Their web site insists on tossing me into their “mobile” version. Probably sensing the ARM chip CPU and leaping to conclusions. But I’m on a desktop machine… Oh Well, I don’t need to visit it… (Eventually folks will realize that Raspberry Pi and other ARM based boards are revolutionizing the desktop as well as the mobile world. I’ll wait…) But here it is, even if you will need to search:
Here’s the story from the other source that popped to the top of a web search. (Clearly the “Pump and Promote Progressive Agenda” teams have not got to work on it at the search engines yet…)
http://onlineindus.com/English/newsdescription/4910
Francois Hollande awards medal to Arnold Schwarzenegger
Saturday 29 April 2017 Yesterday
PARIS: Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was awarded the Legion d’Honneur, one of the highest awards in France. The star received the honor in recognition of his efforts in environmental work and was presented the award by French President Francois Hollande. The ceremony took place at the Élysée Palace in Paris, where Schwarzenegger officially became a chevalier of the Legion of Honor. “Thank you, President Francois Hollande, for making me a Commander of the order of the Legion of Honor for my environmental work,” Schwarzenegger posted on his Twitter account, along with a picture capturing the special moment.“You are a champion for a clean energy future and your effort made COP21 a success,” he continued in another Twitter post. “I look forward to working together on the follow through.” It was a busy day for the Terminator action man who flew out from Los Angeles earlier this week.The former governor of California met the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo.The Legion d’Honneur, founded by Napoleon in 1802 as an order of merit, is awarded to military and civilian personnel for distinguished service to France, but is not exclusively awarded to French citizens.
So there you have it. There is NOTHING that can’t be sullied by The Agenda and trodden into the mud in the process. Not the Nobel Prize. Not the Legion. All in a vain attempt to gather to themselves the shadow of the real honor displayed by the real heroes with real “distinguished service”.
There is a truth I learned in MBA Marketing Class: You can use a celebrity endorser to sell your product. It only works for a limited time, as their good reputation gets worn down trying to raise the reputation of your product. Over time, the product moves up a little, and they will need to be replaced when their reputation is worn out.
IMHO that is exactly the same process at work with the Politicized Awards.
You can strut down the red carpet runway, grab your crotch and feel the tingle as you hoist your “award” high, get the approval of those who don’t matter for things that were of no real value, and feel really really important for your 15 minutes. In the long run, the reality and the truth come out. The award becomes uninteresting and the people “move on”. Every year, ever fewer folks watch the Emmys and the Academy Awards. Why? Because they have become Glitterati PC Adoration. It is no longer about finding which films were actually decent movies well made, it has become about who can do Virtue Signaling to the Progressive Left the most visibly. That just drives away the audience who actually cares about good film more than politicized PC Crap. Politicizing American Football (with ‘the knee’) has singlehandedly driven ESPN from one of THE most profitable properties in entertainment into the category of “stone around the neck” of Disney as it became a profit drag ( I know I’m not going to watch it. The Roku has some very nice local sport from all over the planet. Folks who care about The Game and play it with heart.)
It really is that simple. As the Progressive Left has pushed to parasitize, politicize, and bend to their ends every single possible organization, they simply drive that organizational reputation and audience lower. Attempting to raise their own status with controlling the “awards” process, just shows the awards to be political and not merit awards. Those of us uninterested in Political Street Theatre and managed Social Displays “move on” to other things.
In related news:
Trump ditched the Obligatory Roast with the Name Names of the Glitterati of Media and skipped the press dinner / roast. It was amusing to watch them all dressed up to impress and with nobody but themselves to notice… Trump instead attended a rally with The Deplorables, where he proceeded to label CNN and MSNBC as “Fake News”. In one simple move, he told most of America “We Matter” and that the Glitterati can go suck up to themselves… (Award show at 11…)
http://nypost.com/2017/02/26/this-is-why-trump-is-skipping-the-correspondents-dinner/
This is why Trump is skipping the Correspondents’ Dinner
By Marisa Schultz
February 26, 2017 | 1:14pm
WASHINGTON – President Trump won’t attend the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner because he wasn’t elected to “pretend” to like reporters, a Trump aide said Sunday.
“I think it’s kind of naive of us to think that we can all walk into a room for a couple of hours and pretend that some of that tension isn’t there,” Sarah Huckabee Sanders told ABC’s “This Week.”
Sanders compared Trump’s open hostility with the press to getting egged.
“One of the things we say in the South [is] if a Girl Scout egged your house, would you buy cookies from her? I think that this is a pretty similar scenario,” Sanders said.
So Dear Glitterati: y’all can go sit in a room and insult yourselves. Trump has important folks to talk with… Those of us with no Legion Medal, no Nobel PC Prize, no $10,000 suits and dresses. Just a dumb ol’ red hat, some well worn overalls, and a vote.
Mr. Trump: You have won a very high honor with this move. The trust and appreciation of millions. You need anything, just call.
Musings from the Chiefio 
The corrupting influence of honor is illustrated by comparing Chadwick’s:
1932report on the discovery of the neutron
1935 Nobel lecture on the neutron’s discovery
Click to access Nuclear_Energy_Error7.pdf
1932: The importance of measurements
1935: The importance of the QM model
I noticed this morning that twitter was flooded with about a dozen items on the the White House Correspondent Dinner, all with a picture of some guy I had never heard of and have absolutely no interest in hearing what he had to say. (Hasan Minhaj). From past performances, we know exactly what the game plan is, sucker people in to watching a negative infomercial attacking the President and get brownie points for the most vindictive cheap shots at the President and his supporters. (playing a game of “me too” and “can you top this insult”)
I made a point of not even clicking on the tweets to see the full text, as I don’t want to encourage them with even click numbers. I will get the full gist of the event incidentally through other coverage without ever inflating their stats by clicking on their click bait tweets.
I think most of the country has crossed that same river and no longer want to even acknowledge that they exist. They have proven over the years to be a huge waste of time and effort to try to get any sort of positive contribution from. No entertainment, no legitimate reward for good work, just a giant sucking chest wound for Journalism and entertainment. They are slowly suffocating themselves, like a pneumothorax, the harder they try to breath the the worse it gets. To continue the medical metaphor they have begun agonal breathing, as they desperately attempt to breath life back into their formerly dominant hold on the news and culture.
“… to Arnold Schwarzenegger for his “environmental work”.”
I must have dozed off — a touch of Rip Van Winkle-itis {drew a blank on how best to express this}
Larry L,
I remember watching the celebrity roasts with Rich Little, Don Rickles, Dean Martin, Johnny Carson, and many others. These folks knew how to be funny. Foster ‘lovable drunken man’ Brooks was there. Many more. These roasts are on U-Tube.
I’ve only seen a few minutes of the White House Correspondent Dinner. I’ve never seen most of these folks, don’t care about them, and mostly their insults are not funny.
Thus, for supporters of The Donald, he has -again- controlled the narrative. Good move.
April tips is getting a bit long in the tooth and I know you will like this if you haven’t seen it.
https://github.com/MarcoPon/SeqBox/blob/master/README.md
@ John F. Hultquist:
Those roasts were hilarious; nothing like them nowadays, sigh…
Foster Brooks roasts Don Rickles – they just don’t make ‘em like that anymore… It was a little edgy (for when the kids were safely ensconced in bed) but nothing compared to what is on “prime”time now.
(Incidentally, you’re out of Scotch… And if you happen to think of it, pick up some pretzels…
Which reminds me, you’re out of Velveeta too…
– classic lines, almost tossed aside, but everyone was in stitches)
I do think we owe Seth Myers a thank you for insulting President Trump at the 2011 White House Correspondence dinner. At the time President Trump was just considering a run for the White House when you see his face as Seth smugly delivered his line I think he made his decision to run at that moment. Now Seth has learned the meaning of “he laughs last, laughs best.”
I never get tired of watching that you tube video.
E.M.
More French election
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/01/macron-set-calais-migrants-loose-uk/
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/01/father-macron-exiled-paris-affair-teacher-became-wife/
I think the naked hatred of the YSM this year killed any pretense or civility that goes along with the Correspondence dinner.
As far as Hollande – that story should have been included with your Venezuela one. Just another demonstration of socialists ALWAYS being wrong.
“Blair: Macron Win in French Presidentials Would Be Great Global Victory”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/01/blair-macron-win-french-presidentials-great-global-victory/
Where is the cooking thread?
I bought some manzanita wood chips because of you.
Weber gas grill with smoker insert.
Preheat grill and add some manzanita chips to the smoker.
Griswold #8 cast iron pan.
1 large yellow onion and enough grapeseed oil to keep it from sticking.
(easiest way for the fish not to stich to the pan)
Cook the onion slices until almost soft (maybe 8 minutes at MMM).
Add about 1.5 pound halibut fillet (de-skinned and salt and pepper to taste)
Go to MOM if the fish is really fresh (Medium Off Medium for you non Weber readers)
Add wife’s Chinese black bean sauce to top of fish after it starts to firm up (after 6 to 10 minutes depending on grill, onion, and fish)
Cook until fish starts to sweat (about 4 more minutes last time)
Serve in the pan on a heat proof whatever.
The manzanita let me use too much wood – for a little bit too much time – and the
fish still came out great. Do that with mesquite and you only eat the fish because it costs so much.
“Pro-EU Macron Says Without Reform ‘Frexit’ Will Happen”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/02/pro-eu-macron-without-reform-frexit-happen/
@Bill S:
Well, I’ve been pondering one! Just too many other moving parts to have gotten it done… Take today (please!) for example. Last night about 6 PM discovered that the spousal car would not let the key turn. (This happens sometimes on old Mercedes – I’ve dealt with it a few times over the decades). OK, we took my car to the evening’s event. This morning at 6 AM I’m out doing the “jiggle, wiggle, twist ‘N tap” for about 20 minutes and finally the key turns so the car starts. Now at that moment YOU DO NOT TURN THE CAR OFF!!! You get a couple of such “wiggle and starts” at most, then you have a very large brick.
So from about then until about 9 AM was spent taking the car to the mechanic and getting a ‘loaner lockset’ put in while he orders a replacement to match my key / car. By about 11 AM I’m finally back home. BUT, notice that from 6 PM Sunday to 11 AM Monday I’ve been either “booked” or “reacting to unexpected events”… Then at 3 PM I’m driver for the spouse to another unplanned appointment (made while I was at the mechanic…) and then at 5 PM I’m the chef…
So ALL the postings I’d planned to get up from Sunday through Monday have gone nowhere. Not even the nearly trivial new TIPS post. I’m hoping to catch up today. Cars Willing…
Oh, and since this last Friday I got one of the main fences redone, and now the tint / coating on it is almost dry, I need to set up the BBQ again and maybe, just maybe, I can get back to using some of that nice wood to make dinner… Makes for a real nice fire, doesn’t it…
@Another Ian:
Looks promising, but I suspect it is just an election ploy. Sort of an “It isn’t about EU vs FREXIT in this vote! I’m for FREXIT too – unless I find a way to avoid it…”
I doubt the French will be so naive as to not see through that line of political cover. Le Pen is for France, Macron is for his cushy place in the EU “going forward“…
“Marion Le Pen ‘Guarantees’ Front National Will Repeal Gay Marriage if Elected”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/02/le-pen-repeal-gay-marriage-elected/
Hottening up
“French Prez Debate: Le Pen Says ‘Either Way France Will be Run by a Woman… Me or Merkel’”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/03/le-pen-blasts-macron-terror-issues-globalism-final-french-presidential-debate/
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/03/farage-breaks-cover-french-election-want-see-le-pen-win/
“Macron’s ‘Deplorables’ Moment? Establishment Candidate Brands 8m Le Pen Voters ‘Hateful Cowards’ ”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/04/macrons-deplorables-moment/
That has to be one of the best quotes of all times!
“Even If Elected, a Majority of French Would Not Support Emmanuel Macron”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/05/even-elected-majority-french-wouldnt-support-macron/
A return to France of the 1930’s?
Hmmm – –
“Obama’s intelligence report found Russians tried to influence US election – watch Obama do it to the French’
http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2017/05/obamas-intelligence-report-found-russians-tried-to-influence-us-election-watch-obama-do-it-to-the-fr.html
And
“Pierre Larti gave a rare exclusive interview with Breitbart London saying harassment towards ethnic French by migrants is now commonplace in parts of Paris and the problem will only get worse if Macron wins.”
http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/05/05/paris-generation-identitaire-leader-mass-migration-islamisation-future-europe/
Macron Says He Is Victim Of “Massive, Coordinated” Hack After 9 Gigabytes Of Private Documents Released
As reported overnight, the anonymous source of documents alleging Emmanuel Macron’s involvement with an operating agreement for a Limited Liability Company (LLC) in the Caribbean island of Nevis returned to release several high quality images of the purported documents along with promises to release even more documents and identify account locations and the extent of the assets Macron is supposedly hiding from regulatory authorities.
Screenshot of image showing the alleged Macron signature on the operating agreement
The leaker noted that Macron’s assets were not located in the Bahamas as was been reported by some media outlets, but in the Cayman Islands, another known hotspot for tax evasion. They further stated that they were taking measures to conceal their identity because they are located in the European Union and did not wish to be arrested. The leaker also explained that they were one of a small group of individuals working online with a source in the Cayman Islands to expose the leaked information. They claimed that they were in possession of SWIFTNet logs dating back for several months, and would soon not only know where Mr. Macron’s alleged accounts are located but also the “extent of the money he is hiding from [France’s] government.”
WikiLeaks on Twitter
Then on Friday evening, Macron’s political party said its computer systems were hacked, after “thousands of emails and electronic documents purporting to come from the campaign were posted anonymously on the internet Friday evening.” According to the WSJ , the files had been obtained several weeks ago from the personal and work email accounts of party officials, according to a statement from Mr. Macron’s party, En Marche!, or On the Move. The file dump comes less than two days before the final round of France’s presidential race, which pits Mr. Macron against far-right nationalist Marine Le Pen.
“The En Marche! Movement has been the victim of a massive and co-ordinated hack this evening which has given rise to the diffusion on social media of various internal information,” the statement said.
The party said that the cache “includes both authentic and falsified documents with the goal of sowing doubt and disinformation,” which is another way of stating that anything that is potentialy damaging will be claimed to the fake, while the innocuous documents are “authentic.”
As Reuters adds, an interior ministry official declined to comment, citing French rules which forbid any commentary liable to influence an election, and which took effect at midnight French time on Friday. Comments about the email dump began to appear on Friday evening just hours before the official ban on campaigning began. The ban is due to stay in place until the last polling stations close on Sunday at 8 p.m.
Already accusations have emerged that this is a hacking similar to what occurred with Hillary Clinton, when over 30,000 emails by John Podesta were leaked, exposing the “dirty laundry” of Clinton’s campaign, a hack she has subsequently claimed cost her the presidency. Naturally, the Kremlin has already been implicated as being behind the hack.
========================================================================
Macron accuses Trump and Putin of the leak, Hillary says she agrees
@Another Ian:
I saw on TV (France24? something…) that Barack Obama video pushing for Macron. He was happy to make a video endorsing Macron and trying to change the French Election. And here I thought interference in another country’s election was something they thought was a bad thing… or is that only when Russia does it?
@L.G.:
Yeah, very little coverage of it on France24 and other European news. Basically just a “He was hacked, it was a Bad Thing.” Nothing about the content of the email. Now France is officially on news lockdown until the election is over. The timing of the release looks like it was to get the dirt published with no time to respond. Instead it looks like the dirt is being buried and called fabrications in a generic way; with no ability to show otherwise due to the blackout.
It will be an interesting Sunday… (Late Saturday where I am…)
From what I heard on D.W (IIRC) it was a spearfishing attack. The usual clickbait in some email that downloaded the hook. And folks wonder why I just hit reload or bail from any site that shoves a “click to close” popup in my face… and generally don’t click on anything in email, or even read email if I can avoid it. (Once a month, if it needs it or not ;-)
Oh Well.
Years ago I learned “Never put in email anything you would not want on the front page of every newspaper.” It’s a good rule to live by.