A Dress Rehearsal for Democracy’s Funeral

A photograph of Ivanka, Melania, and the Donald meeting with Pope Francis. Ivanka and Melania wear dour expressions on their faces, while Donny is grinning ear to ear.
From left, Ivanka, Melania, Donny, with his holiness Papa Francesco.

One of the people in this photo is clueless. Can you figure out who?

I’m not terribly familiar with protocol for meeting with the holy father. But this photo is still striking. Such contrast. Donny’s grin is exceptionally out of place here. And Fred Trump (Donny’s dad) was no fan of the Roman Catholic church.

To quote Dubya, it’s another instance of “some weird shit, man.”

While You Weren’t Looking, Trump Basically Killed Dodd-Frank

A similar fate will soon follow for the derivatives regulations and other rules written during the Obama years. Even capital requirements, the simplest and last line of defense against bad bank behavior, are under assault following the resignation of Federal Reserve Governor Daniel Tarullo.

Source: While You Weren’t Looking, Trump Basically Killed Dodd-Frank

I suspected this charge was “trumped up” because of its timing. Now that Sec. Clinton is out of the way, the pressure is off Sweden to produce Assange.

I wonder if he can leave the embassy now?

The Australian national has previously expressed concern that he could end up being extradited and facing the death penalty in the United States over allegations of revealing government secrets through his site, WikiLeaks.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/europe/julian-assange-sweden-charges-dropped/

Much of the flooding here is dominated by wave-driven events — which is why El Niño years with extremely large waves can have such profound effects on coastal erosion.

http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-sea-level-floods-20170518-story.html