IKEA Monkey

Donald Trump apparently believes that the Clintons, the GOP establishment, pollsters, Wall Street and various women he has known are all in cahoots.

Crawling can work wonders for you, according to body and fitness experts who believe channeling your inner baby is the new wave. Imagine a nation of adult babies crawling into happiness and health.

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Every meal should start with one pound of burrata. 📷: @jennymichellely /📍: @@obicarestaurant #forkyeah http://ift.tt/2dHa3Ye

The move shows Trump's campaign is effectively focusing only on four states, according to a source with knowledge of the strategy.

In today’s Tweet Beat, Courtney does not like Billy, Usher says hey and Chelsea Peretti talks comedy.

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Whether out of genuine concern or a misplaced sense of propriety, you might feel compelled to intervene if you find two (or more!) bears mating in the woods. Today, however, I’d like to suggest an alternate course of action: Let them fuck in peace.

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The president "is looking forward to making the most of every moment that's remaining."

On Tuesday, Samsung said it was discontinuing the Note 7 phones just two months after their launch, after two recalls and many reports of fires.

San Marzano tomatoes are often celebrated as the best canned tomatoes money can buy, but they can be a little pricey. According to Epicurious however, the best tasting canned tomato isn’t a San Marzano, and it’s a bit cheaper.

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NEWS BRIEF Boko Haram militants released 21 of the kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls who were taken in 2014, the Nigerian government said in a statement Thursday.

The Islamic militants stormed the girl’s hostel at their government boarding school in the town of Chibok two years ago and kidnapped about 270 students, all girls. Their mothers’ ensuing fight for their return sparked a worldwide effort under the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls. Their disappearance also became a sign of the Nigerian government’s inability to control parts of its territory in the northeast, one about the size of Belgium, that fell under control of Boko Haram. Crushing the militants became a presidential platform for Muhammadu Buhari, who took power in 2015.

The girls were released as part of negotiations between Boko Haram, the International Red Cross, and the Swiss government, the president’s spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, said. Their names will come soon.

The names of the released girls follows shortly.

— Mallam Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) October 13, 2016

There were few details of the deal, but it’s believed the government traded some Boko Haram prisoners in exchange for the girls’ release. There are about 200 girls still missing, and some have periodically been sent home, or found in villages surrounding Boko Haram’s territory. Some come back with horrifying tales of rape and forced labor.

For seven years, Boko Haram has fought to create an Islamic state in the northeast of Nigeria, and the fighting has led to the deaths of 30,000, according to the government, with more than 2 million people displaced. In the past year, however, Boko Haram’s territory has shrunk as the Nigerian military, aided by U.S. and British forces, have bombed and attacked the militants on the edge of the country, as well as in Cameroon.

The negotiations represent a new stage in the fighting, and the Nigerian government said they will continue talks.

   There’s a surprise visit from Ewan McGregor at the end, which I just spoiled for you. Oh well. Read More ...

John Cena has been essentially unchanged for the past decade. The undisputed top star of WWE first gained his immense popularity when he burst onto the scene as a foulmouthed rapper, but now we know him as an uptight homeowner and burgeoning movie star who isn’t much longer for the world of wrestling. Still, though: what triggered the transformation from battle rapper to troops-lover? It turns out the answer involved more than just him starring in The Marine.

We already know how Cena originally came up with the character that rocketed him into megastardom, but in a new interview with ESPN, the Face that Runs the Place talks about why he eventually dropped it. And the answer is maybe more blunt than we expected: he got old, and didn’t want to risk looking like a poseur or an out-of-touch fogey.

“To me, there was definitely some method behind it. Hip-hop certainly is in sync with the youth and every day that passes I grow less youthful, as much as I have tried to hold onto it. I knew that the platform really wouldn’t be indicative of success. I knew [the PG format] would just drastically change the style and almost cripple the character so I was the one proactively who said ‘no’ and said ‘I would like to take everything another way.'”

It’s pretty interesting that instead of being an old, inauthentic hip-hop guy, he instead became a straightlaced, uptight goody-goody. I mean, that’s a look that NEVER goes out of style, but it’s interesting that his age influenced his decision. Ever since becoming the modern Cena that we all know and are whatever about, he’s seemed like a 70-year-old guy who occasionally makes poop and dog balls jokes.

To thine own self be true, I guess.

Not only is it a key ingredient in countless Thai, Vietnamese, and Indonesian preparations, but, like soy sauce and its fellow anchovy-based sauce, Worcestershire, fish sauce can be used to add a unique, savory complexity to dishes of any provenance. Here's a look at some of our favorite applications. Read More

Cause for alarm? Poetic justice? Or just clever marketing? [ more › ]

On a pedestrian bridge over the Kennedy Expressway, unrepentant Bernie Sanders booster Veronica Wolski is leading a chorus of car horns and cheers united behind her defeated primary candidate.

Since early June, come rain or shine, Wolski heads to her perch, not far from O'Hare International Airport,...

English has a number of prefixes that come from the concept of “half.” Why do we have so many? And what’s the difference between them?

Tonarelli Cacio e Pepe (literally means cheese and pepper). And we’re not complaining. 📷: @chubbychinesegirleats /📍: @viacarota #forkyeah http://ift.tt/2dTRFuA

Through October 31, 2016, Wendy's is selling Frosty Coupon Books, which include five free Jr. Frosty coupons for $1.

The coupons offer an alternative to handing out candy for Halloween or you can horde them for yourself to feed your Frosty cravings.

85 cents for each coupon book sold will be donated to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which helps find families for children awaiting foster care.

Photo via Wendy's.

 I may have quit Empire — as it turns out, Terrence Howard is exhausting even when (I think) I am SUPPOSED to hate him — but I still love Cookie Lyon, and Taraji always makes me smile. Even, maybe especially, when I can’t suss out her clothes. I don’t hate the dress part at all, Read More ...

John Mulaney and Nick Kroll’s Oh Hello routine became a play last December (presented at the Cherry Lane Theatre), and now it’s just opened as a Broadway production, running from now until January 8,  with, it turns out, some rather impressive understudies. Likely waiting for John Mulaney and Nick Kroll to slip on a discarded wig or frown themselves into a coma so they can finally get their moment in the spotlight are none other than Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm and John Slattery — or so they’re listed in the show’s Playbill.

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Hamm at the opening of the production, where he told them, “It’s very smart — they clearly chose us for a reason! Those boys aren’t getting any younger, so you never know if there’s gonna be a fall backstage. John and Nick are good friends of both John and I, so it’s a fun meta moment we were able to put into the show with them.”

Meanwhile, Kroll and Mulaney also spoke to the publication about their reasons for choosing these actors. Kroll said, “You need a less talented version of yourself up there,” and Mulaney confirmed — “they’re TV guys and we’re the serious theater actors.”

Hamm is understudying for Mulaney as George St. Geegland, while Slattery is hypothetically (in case of an accident) taking on Kroll’s role — Gil Faizon. (Though this all seems like a joke, even if they really did intend to take on the roles as understudies, it’d be unlikely for them to ever get stage time if Mulaney or Kroll were merely sick; “There would be nothing better than if George of Gil were physically sick onstage,”  Kroll told THR, and Mulaney added that he’s “been deeply ill” while doing the show — and it only improved it.)

Each “understudy” wrote their own biography in the program, which has been circulating a bit on Twitter:

With less than a month to go until Election Day, Donald Trump’s standing has plummeted with likely voters, falling from a dead heat just two weeks ago to a double-digit deficit behind Hillary Clinton, according to a PRRI/The Atlantic poll released Tuesday.

Clinton holds a 49-38 lead over the Republican. Two weeks ago, a previous PRRI/Atlantic poll found Trump and Clinton tied at 43-43. Following the first presidential debate in Hempstead, New York, the Democrat broke out to a 47-41 lead. She has now built on that lead.

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Presidential Choice Among Likely Voters

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That’s the bad news for Trump. The worse news is that this poll likely does not include the full impact of a video, published Friday afternoon by The Washington Post, in which Trump boasts about sexually assaulting women. The poll was conducted Wednesday through Sunday, meaning some respondents were interviewed before the video’s release and some afterward. It also does not take into account the second presidential debate, in which Trump’s performance drew widely varying reviews.

“At a time when Trump needs to be expanding his support, this new survey shows him faltering with independent voters and slipping further with women voters,” said Robert P. Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute. “While white evangelical voters are mostly standing by their man, enthusiasm among his base supporters alone is certain to leave him short on Election Day.”

The shift toward Clinton is driven almost entirely by movement among independent voters. One week ago, Trump led Clinton 44-36 among independent voters. Those numbers have roughly flipped, with 44 percent backing Clinton now, and 33 percent supporting Trump.

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Independent Voters’ Preference

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Clinton also continues to lead Trump by hefty margins among women, with a 33-point gap separating the candidates. Just 28 percent of likely women voters intend to pull the lever for Trump, a five-point drop from one week ago, while 61 percent plan to vote for Clinton. The lewd video of Trump might lead to an even greater gap in the home stretch toward the election.

Even more remarkably, Trump’s support has collapsed among white women without college degrees. Until recently, they formed Trump’s largest bloc of support. In 2004, they voted for George W. Bush by 19 points; in 2008, they backed John McCain by 17 points; and in 2012, they went with Mitt Romney by 20 points. This poll finds them evenly split between Clinton and Trump, with each drawing 40 percent support.

One thing that makes the 11-point topline gap between the candidates so notable is that Trump retains impressive support—and Clinton remains conspicuously weak—among a couple of key demographics. Trump’s support among male voters is roughly flat, at 48 percent. Trump has a huge lead among white men with no college degree, 65-22, but also leads among college-educated white men, who back him at 46 percent to Clinton’s 39 percent.

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The Gender Gap in Presidential Preference

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Trump also remains very popular among evangelical voters. Roughly two of every three white evangelicals plans to vote for Trump, with only 16 percent backing Clinton. Among other white Christians, however, Trump’s support is weaker than previous Republican candidates.

The survey polled 1,327 adults living in the United States through telephone interviews, including 886 likely voters. The margin of error for the entire sample is +/- 3.2 percentage points, and the margin of error for the subsample of likely voters is +/- 3.9 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence interval. The topline questionnaire, including methodology, is available here.

The results lay out the stiff odds facing Trump as he attempts to put the video behind him and close his gap with Clinton. The PRRI/The Atlantic poll is the second in as many days to show Clinton opening up a double-digit lead. On Monday, an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found Clinton holding a 14-point lead, 52-38, in a two-way race. In a four-way race, she led Trump 46-35.

But the impact of Trump’s video has not been fully felt in polls, nor has the tidal wave of Republican officeholders who have renounced Trump, withdrawn their support, and called on him to withdraw from the race. He shows little interest in doing so, and has struck a defiant tone. Yet there are now just four weeks left before the end of the race, and more than 400,000 ballots have already been cast. The Republican nominee’s political problems have become a math problem.

A choice recommendation that’s already stuck in my head, from reader Lucy:

Hands down, my favorite Chicago song is the bouncy, over-the-top track “Dennehy” by local rapper/alternative hip-hop persona Serengeti. He’s singing in character here—the character of a blue-collar, thickly Chicago-accented local sports superfan “Kenny”—but the slapstick performance doesn’t poke fun. Rather, it’s a toast to working-class men in boring, off-the-tourist-map neighborhoods all over Chicago who love their wives, love their pickup softball games, and truly, truly, love the city of Chicago.

(Submit a song via hello@. Track of the Day archive here. Pre-Notes archive here.)

The duo that dazzled up Garfield Park Conservatory and The Bean with brilliant light installations has big plans for the bike trail. [ more › ]

Melania Trump wore a style of shirt literally marketed as a “pussy bow” top to the debate Sunday night.

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Donald Trump built the Taj Mahal casino and once called it "the eighth wonder of the world."

The Republican candidate in the race for the presidency — who took his Atlantic City casinos through bankruptcy four times — minced no words about Monday's shutdown of the gambling hall.

"There's no reason...

The Washington Post has obtained a 2005 audio clip of man-sized ass-cyst Donald Trump having a particularly disgusting and demeaning conversation about his treatment of women. Trump was captured on a hot mic bragging that due to his fame, he could grope women with impunity: “[W]hen you’re a star they let you do it. They let you do anything... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”

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Confession: I was a bad sleeper. I was never “sleep trained,” a phrase that would have had zero meaning to my parents. I tormented my mom when I woke up, long past an age where that was acceptable, an age I’m not willing to admit on the Internet. Seeing it from the other side makes me appreciate the fact that she didn’t murder me.

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Michael Reagan, the oldest son of former President Ronald Reagan, said Wednesday that Nancy Reagan, would have supported Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump for president.