IKEA Monkey

President Trump is most comfortable when he’s on the verbal offensive. He loves a good war of words, whether his target is a foreign adversary, a foreign ally, a Republican rival, or Rosie O’Donnell. According to a New York Times tally, Trump has attacked 351 separate people, places, and things on Twitter alone since July 2015.

The president has demonstrated that tendency this week, with his escalating, improvised threats against North Korea and his parallel assault on Mitch McConnell, his most important ally in Washington.

Those feuds make Trump’s refusal to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin all the more conspicuous.

On July 30, Putin announced that Russia was forcing the U.S. State Department to reduce its staff in Russia by 755 people. (For the most part, those who were laid off were Russians working for the embassy, not American diplomats.) Trump, who often can’t let a provocation on cable news go unanswered for more than a few hours, was uncharacteristically quiet.

He finally broke his silence, after a fashion, on August 3, the day he signed a bill increasing sanctions on Russia in retaliation for interfering in the 2016 election. Trump had opposed the legislation, but it passed Congress with veto-proof majorities, leaving him little choice but to sign it. There are many reasons Russo-American relations are strained: Russian anger at expansion of NATO, longstanding global rivalries, the Russian annexation of Crimea and intervention in Ukraine, years of Russian human-rights abuses, and Russian tampering with the election. Trump chose to place blame for the rocky state of the relationship not on any of those issues, and certainly not on Putin, but squarely on Congress. Just for good measure, he tossed in an unrelated jab at the failure of an Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan:

Our relationship with Russia is at an all-time & very dangerous low. You can thank Congress, the same people that can't even give us HCare!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2017

There was still not a word about Putin’s forced cuts at the U.S. embassy. Finally, on Thursday, Trump weighed in. His comments were surprising—not only did he not criticize Putin, but he thanked him:

I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll, and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll. There's no real reason for them to go back. I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We’re going to save a lot of money.

Was Trump speaking with tongue in cheek? It’s possible, but he didn’t smile when he said it. (The president has often tried to pass off apparently serious comments as jokes after the fact, in order to defuse situations.) The remark fits with his attempt to cut costs at the State Department and his disdain for traditional diplomacy.

But even if the whole thing was a joke, it’s still astonishing that Trump’s response to Russian retaliation was to thank the retaliators. This doesn’t mean the only option is an eye for an eye; a simple public complaint is standard in cases of diplomatic retaliation like this. (Part of the problem is that Trump seems to have two modes: conciliation and escalation. The idea of criticizing without raising the stakes is foreign to him.)

The strange thing about Trump’s comments about Putin is not merely that he won’t criticize him, but that he goes out of his way to avoid it. The tweet about Russian relations and his remarks on Thursday were hardly the only times this has happened. And that’s even leaving aside Trump’s repeated praise for the Russian leader during the campaign, when he praised Putin’s leadership, suggested he’d allow the annexation of Crimea, and publicly called on Russia to hack Hillary Clinton’s emails.

Let’s draw a line between what Trump said on the campaign trail and what he’s said since the election. Although he had been briefed before November 8, it was after the election that he began getting full intelligence briefings on Russian interference. Since then, there has also been an increasing focus on interference among members of the public, press, and Congress. In other words, Trump has had many more incentives to distance himself from Russia. Instead, he’s continued to hold his fire.

On February 4, Trump told Bill O’Reilly, “I do respect [Putin]. Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean I’ll get along with them.” O’Reilly pressed Trump on Putin’s murders of dissidents and journalists. Trump wouldn’t criticize Putin for those crimes, and suggested the United States was no better. “There are a lot of killers. We have a lot of killers,” Trump said. “Well, you think our country is so innocent?”

He has also repeatedly declined to accept the idea that Russia meddled in the election, even though it is the conclusion of all the major intelligence agencies, and even though many of his top aides have said they blame Russia for hacking attacks. In June, he called the attacks “a big Dem HOAX.”

In early July, during a trip to Poland, he halfway accepted that Russia might have been behind them, then backed off the statement and worked to muddy the waters.

I think it was Russia, and I think it could have been other people in other countries. It could have been a lot of people. I said it very simply. I think it could very well have been Russia, but I think it could well have been other countries. I won’t be specific. I think a lot of people interfere. I think it’s been happening for a long time, it’s been happening for many, many years.

Yet he added: “Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure.”

Later that week, Trump had his first face-to-face meeting with Putin, at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. U.S. and Russian accounts of the meeting initially diverged, with the United States saying Trump had pressed Putin forcefully on the hacking, and Russia saying Trump had accepted Putin’s denials.

Two days later, Trump cleared things up with a pair of tweets that basically confirmed the Russian account:

I strongly pressed President Putin twice about Russian meddling in our election. He vehemently denied it. I've already given my opinion.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017

Given that Trump had already said he was dubious of Russian interference, that tweet reads as an acknowledgment that he accepted their denial. But even if that wasn’t the case, Trump’s next one made clear that he had no interest in holding Russia to account:

...We negotiated a ceasefire in parts of Syria which will save lives. Now it is time to move forward in working constructively with Russia!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 9, 2017

The question is why Trump has worked so hard to avoid criticizing Putin—especially when there’s a clear political downside to appearing cozy with the Russian bear.

There is little obvious foreign-policy advantage. During the campaign and early in his presidency, Trump argued that the United States ought to launch a charm offensive in order to improve relations with Russia. Whether that was right or wrong, and whether Congress or someone else is to blame, that approach is obsolete today. As Trump, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Russia have all admitted, relations are now at a low ebb.

Even if Trump fully believes that Putin is a spotless, admirable leader falsely accused of various crimes, it would be to his benefit to create some separation, and a matter as simple as expulsion of diplomats offers a good chance for Trump to stand up for his country. Putin, like any foreign leader, understands that sometimes a head of state has to shore himself up domestically and would surely interpret a few hostile words from Trump in that light. (Alternatively, even if one believes Trump is a bought-and-paid-for puppet of the Kremlin, why wouldn’t he publicly denounce Putin to buy himself some maneuvering room?)

Given Trump’s affection for authoritarian leaders and fixation on projecting strength, the simplest explanation for Trump’s refusal to criticize Putin might be that he doesn’t want to give the impression that he has been cowed into changing his view. Perhaps he’s thinking that if he allows his critics to troll him into offering harsh words, it would show that they are stronger than him—and if he acknowledges Russian interference in the election, it undermines the legitimacy of his victory in 2016.

In fact, his actions are making him look weak, but not in the way he thinks. His refusal to criticize Putin even in the case of diplomatic retaliation gives the impression that he is intimidated by the Kremlin and doesn’t have it in him to be tough. The president has cut off his nose to spite his face, and is now willing to cut off an ear or a lip if he must.

During his only press conference between the election and inauguration, on January 11, Trump fielded questions about his affection for the Russian leader.

“If Putin likes Donald Trump, guess what, folks, that’s called an asset, not a liability,” he said. “Now, I don’t know that I’m going to get along with Vladimir Putin. I hope I do. But there’s a good chance I won’t. And if I don’t, do you honestly believe that Hillary would be tougher on Putin than me? Does anybody in this room really believe that?”

Seven months later, it seems clear that she couldn’t have been any less tough.

Republican Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter, a hardline Obamacare critic who recently recommended that someone “snatch a knot” in Lisa Murkowski’s “ass,” has been taking heat in a round of town hall events in Georgia, although he—like many of his colleagues—remains as impervious as ever to the very good points made by some of…

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Public safety officials in Guam have distributed a two-page pamphlet advising island residents how to prepare and react should North Korea follow through on threats to launch a nuclear strike against the U.S. territory.

The document includes several ominous warnings, the first being: "Do not look...

Colin Kaepernick is, without question, the most polarizing figure in sports today. But Kaepernick, who quarterbacked the San Francisco 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2013, has never been arrested, has never been accused of hitting a woman. He's never been pulled over and charged with DUI or accused...

"Weekend Update: Summer Edition" kicked off its run with Colin Jost and Michael Che joined by Bill Hader.

The White House is maintaining silence about whether Trump played golf on Wednesday, even after photos emerged showing him on the course wearing a golf glove.

By Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for ordering the United States to slash its diplomatic staff in Russia, remarks likely to rekindle criticism of Trump's kid-gloves handling of Putin. Breaking nearly two weeks of silence on Putin's July 30 order cutting U.S. embassy and consulate staff by nearly two thirds, Trump said: "I'm very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll." Trump said "there’s no real reason for them to go back" and "we're going to save a lot of money," in response to Putin's Cold War-style move, differing from the reactions of other presidents in similar circumstances in the past.

Yuck. [ more › ]

In a rare decision, the city's police watchdog determined that a Chicago police officer's fatal shooting of a 15-year-old boy during a foot chase five years ago was "unprovoked" and "unwarranted."

That ruling, released Thursday night by the Independent Police Review Authority, comes a little over...

Burrito-lovers looking for a little extra flavor on their meal might add tomatoes, lettuce, cheese sauce, or even a bit of guacamole. But what about a Pop Rocks-like seasoning? That’s apparently an option for customers at select Taco Bell locations in California. 

FoodBeast reports that at least four Taco Bell locations in California are selling packets of cayenne-flavored “popping crystals” as part of a test for the chain’s new Firecracker burritos.

The Firecracker burritos, which come in cheesy and spicy variations, were first spotted by a Reddit user earlier this week. The $1.29 meal sounds a lot like your typical burrito; filled with rice, cheese, beef, and tortilla strips, but wrapped in a red tortilla. The spicy version includes chipotle sauce.

To set these new burritos apart from all the rest, Taco Bell is giving guests the option to add a little more kick by way of  seasoned “popping crystals,” which sound a lot like Pop Rocks and can be added to any order for an additional $0.20.

Reddit user Elbore says that he was “confused by the whole thing,” after ordering the meal at a Santa Ana location. He notes that the packet of poppers “taste sweet and crackle just like pop rocks.”

The Firecracker burritos, and presumably the cayenne popping rocks, are available for purchase at the locations until Aug. 16, according to FoodBeast.

Consumerist has reached out to Taco Bell for additional information on the test; we’ll update this post when we hear back.

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President Donald Trump frequently uses his luxury properties for government business and leisure, prompting ethics concerns.

You may know about Austin's Congress Bridge bat colony, but if you travel a bit, you can stand within the world's largest bat colony at Bracken Cave. Explore more offbeat adventures with our expert guides.

She's still recovering two years later.

Sewing the seeds of marijuana tourism

The tiny town of Nipton, California, is going to pot. Literally. One of the country’s largest cannabis companies, American Green, recently purchased the six-person town for $5 million, with plans to transform it into the country’s leading marijuana tourist destination.

Over the next year and a half, American Green will invest another $2.5 million in making over the 80-acre Nipton into a pot-lover’s playground. Powered entirely by renewable energy, the town would boast on-site pot growing, a bottling plant for pot-infused water, edibles production, mineral baths, marijuana retail stores, and hotel rooms.

There’s no question that the expansion of state-level marijuana legalization is having an impact on housing markets, businesses, and cities, but American Green is positioning marijuana-tourism as an economic savior for depressed towns. The company is already talking with edibles manufacturers and pot-centric businesses in an effort to get them to relocate to Nipton.

“We are excited to lead the charge for a true Green Rush,” David Gwyther, American Green’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “The cannabis revolution that’s going on here in the U.S. has the power to completely revitalize communities in the same way gold did during the 19th century.”

Via: Realtor.com, Washington Post

The Scottish Borders house was designed by Peter Womersley for textile designer Bernat Klein

This absolutely stunning midcentury modern home in the Scottish Borders by British architect Peter Womersley has come on the market for the first time. Designed in 1957 for Serbian textile designer Bernat Klein, the residence known as High Sunderland boasts a rare Category A listing from Historic Environment Scotland, the highest designation the body awards.

Sited on just over three acres in Selkirk, Scotland, 35 miles south of Edinburgh, the single-story, four-bedroom house features a modular, gridded rectangular floorplan that seamlessly integrates open courtyards and a carport into its structure. This scheme also allowed for further expansion, which Klein took advantage of in 1982 to add a studio wing.

The 2,949-square-foot residence is distinguished by 8-foot modules, a flat roof, and a deceptively simple layout. Its Makore-timber structure sits on a concrete base wrapped by a white horizontal band, which also repeats at the top, while full-height windows, color blocked panels, vertical boarding, and mosaic accents make up the facade.

Inside, a breathtaking living area steals the show. Open in plan, it features travertine floors, bespoke furniture and storage, polished obeche wood ceiling, idigbo-, rosewood- and walnut-paneled walls, and a sunken central seating area surrounded by a study, library, and dining area. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame lush views and allow natural light to pour in.

Off the study is the master bedroom suite, and on the other side of the living area are the original kitchen, two additional bedrooms, a family room, bathrooms, a utility room, and the aforementioned studio, all of which feature extensive glazing, wood paneling, and built-in storage. All of the home’s fabrics and textiles were specially designed by Klein.

Outside, open woodlands, fields, and views of the Ettrick Valley surrounded the property, which is offered at £795,000, or around $1.03 million.

Via: The Modern House

Is anybody double checking what these kids are saying on television?

The Little League World Series isn’t just a chance for young baseball players to play the game on a national stage representing their town, state, and country, but also an opportunity for a few players to have some fun with being on national television.

We’ve already had one kid admit that he looks at memes before games as his secret weapon (don’t we all?) and now there is Massachusetts’ Ben Deibler who used the bottom line of his at-bat graphic to reveal quite the admission.

Deibler, who bats leadoff for Massachusetts, wrote that he has a crush on his teacher, followed by a direct shoutout to “Mrs. Stevens” as well.

While he may be a hero among his friends back at school for this particular move, this could also be a sign that the LLWS should maybe be monitoring what “fun facts” players are choosing more closely or require them to be approved by parents and coaches first.

It’s funny in the moment, but it also represents an entire town and state in the competition and there’s a chance the players that choose to say things like this on television might regret it once they’ve grown up a bit.

On the other hand, you don’t get to go on television every day so to each their own.

Two were found within just three days, according to Naperville police. [ more › ]

Have you heard of ceviche? It’s a popular dish in many Latin American countries that uses lemon or lime juice is used to “cook” raw fish.

Done well, ceviche means fish with a perfectly firm but tender texture, a bright citrus taste, and a pure fish flavor that you might associate with the freshest sashimi.

Continue reading "Ceviche with Avocado and Grilled Corn" »

While there’s no firm release date for NBA Live 18 yet (it’s scheduled to drop in December), the demo is set to drop on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on August 11. In fact, you can even scan your face now so you can upload it into the game when it’s available. But enough about faces, the battle between digital hardwood supremacy is back, and it has begun with dueling soundtracks between NBA 2K18 and NBA Live 18. It’s like Kyrie and LeBron, except not at all.

Both games share tracks from Kendrick Lamar, Lil Uzi Vert, Nas, Joey Bada$$ and more, with 2K18 boasting 47 tracks to Live‘s 29. That alone puts 2K18 above the competition in variety alone, but there are still some choice cuts here:

1) 2 Chainz, “4 AM” feat. Travis Scott
2) Aminé, “Heebiejeebies” feat. Kehlani
3) Ayo & Teo, “Rolex”
4) Dave East, “Paper Chasin” feat. A$AP Ferg
5) Ezri, “1/1”
6) Gorillaz, “Let Me Out” feat. Pusha T and Mavis Staples
7) Joey Bad4$$, “Ring The Alarm” feat. Kirk Knight, Nyck Caution & Meechy Darko of Flatbush Zombies
8) Kamaiyah, “How Does It Feel”
9) Kap G, “Rings”
10) Kendrick Lamar, “DNA.”
11) Khary, “Find Me”
12) Kid Cudi, “Surfin’” feat. Pharrell Williams
13) Kyle, “Want Me Bad” feat. Cousin Stizz
14) Lil Uzi Vert, “XO TOUR Llif3”
15) MGK, “Trap Paris” feat. Quavo & Ty Dolla $ign
16) Mura Masa, “All Around The World” feat. Desiigner
17) Nas x J Dilla, “The Season”
18) NAV, “NAV”
19) Nick Grant, “Get Up” feat. WatchtheDuck
20) Playboi Carti, “wokeuplikethis*” feat. Lil Uzi Vert
21) PnB Rock, “Stand Back” feat. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
22) Rapsody, “OooWee” feat. Anderson .Paak
23) Rick Ross, “Summer Seventeen”
24) Russ, “I’m Here”
25) Stefflon Don, “Real Ting”
26) THEY., “U-RITE”
27) Tunji Ige, “Pounds”
28) Year Of The Ox, “Jet Lag”
29) Yellow Claw, “City On Lockdown” (Instrumental Mix)

Of course, you can listen to the entirety of the soundtrack on Spotify here (and starting today, Spotify is available on the Xbox One):

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Measuring Spoon Hasn’t Looked Back Ever Since Being Detached From Ring

Twice a day since the beginning of the Trump administration, a special folder is prepared for the president. The first document is prepared around 9:30 AM and the follow-up around 4:30 PM. Former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and former Press Secretary Sean Spicer both wanted the privilege of delivering the 20- to 25-page packet to President Trump personally, White House sources say.

These sensitive papers, described to VICE News by three current and former White House officials, are not top-secret intelligence or updates on legislative initiatives. Instead, the folders are filled with screenshots of positive cable news chyrons (those lower-third headlines and crawls), admiring tweets, transcripts of fawning TV interviews, praise-filled news stories, and sometimes just pictures of Trump on TV looking powerful.

Continue reading on VICE News.

This year's Gulf of Mexico dead zone is the largest ever since tracking began in 1985. Here's what that means, how it got so big, and what needs to be done.

Donald Trump's ideal economy is defined by brawn. He praises steelworkers, speaks wistfully of coal mining, and tweets boastfully about new manufacturing factories. But 200 days into his presidency, the most promising sector of the U.S. labor market isn’t steel-plating. It’s dinner-plating.

Restaurant jobs are on fire in 2017, growing faster than health care, construction, or manufacturing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics calls this subsector “food services and drinking places,” and the jobs are mostly at sit-down restaurants, which make up 50 percent of the category. Fast-food joints are the next-largest employer in the category, with 37 percent. Bars—wonderful, plentiful, but leanly staffed—account for just 3 percent. So, I’m just going to keep saying “restaurants” for short.

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Restaurants > Health Care

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In some metros, restaurants are powering the entire economy. More than a third of Cleveland’s new jobs since 2015 are in restaurants, according to EMSI data. The same is true for New Orleans, but since 2010.

Unlike mining or manufacturing, which tends to cluster in a handful of regions, the restaurant boom is spread across the country. New fine-dining restaurants, which tend to require more waitstaff, are blooming in all the predictable places—San Francisco, Nashville, and Austin (the Texas capital leads the country in percent-growth of restaurant jobs). But restaurants are dominating local economies in a diverse range of places, from poor metros like Little Rock, to rich places like Washington, D.C., and military hubs like Virginia Beach.

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The Restaurants Are Eating the Jobs

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How did this happen? As Justin Fox points out, the trend didn't appear overnight. For the past three decades, restaurants have steadily grown, as part of the most fundamental shift in American work—from making things to serving people. Between 1990 and 2008, 98 percent of new jobs came from so-called "nontradable" industries that aren't sensitive to international trade, according to the economist Michael Spence.

In 1990, manufacturing was almost three times larger than the food-service industry. But restaurants have gradually closed the gap. At current rates of growth, more people will work at restaurants than in manufacturing in 2020. This mirrors the shift in consumer spending. Restaurants’ share of America’s food budget has doubled from 25 percent in the 1950s to 50 percent today.

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The phenomenon is speeding up. Four of the five best years for restaurant growth on record have happened since 2011. Restaurant jobs have grown faster than the overall economy every month for the past seven years. It’s not just a redundant artifact of the service-sector economy, either. Almost every month between 1996 and 2000—years when job creation soared in a booming economy—restaurant jobs grew slower than the rest of the labor market.

The trend is speeding up, but it’s not clear that we should cheer it—or whether it’s sustainable. Jobs are jobs, but these ones don’t pay very well. The typical private-sector job pays about $22 an hour. The typical restaurant job pays about $12.50. That’s one reason why the Fight for 15 movement to raise the minimum wage has targeted the restaurant industry. What’s more, although it might feel like a golden age of restaurants in America, the truth is that the United States might have too many restaurants, particularly “family-casual” chains like Applebee’s, which have struggled to keep up with rising labor costs.

But the most important feature of the restaurant-jobs boom is not what it may say about the future, but rather the fact that it is happening in the first place. Trump and other politicians often say they want to help the common worker. But then they talk about the economy as if it were cryogenically frozen sometime around 1957. The U.S. still makes stuff, but mostly it serves stuff. To help American workers, it helps to begin with an honest accounting of what Americans actually do.

President Trump has used his lawyers to send private messages of appreciation to the special counsel in charge of the Russia investigation, according to reports.

John Cena is a busy guy. When he’s not working a full-time WWE schedule, he’s filming movies or TV shows, and somehow when he’s doing both, he still has the time to host the TODAY show. He’s currently in the midst of another week of guest-hosting duties, and it has already been fantastic, because on Monday he rode a hobby horse while answering country music trivia. It’s even better than whatever you’re imagining.

On Tuesday, Cena was asked by co-host Dylen Dreyer how often he “has” to go to the gym to keep looking like the world’s premium beefboy that he is. That sparked some solid condescension from Cena about the difference between “having” to go to the gym and “wanting” to go to the gym, but he eventually got around to his actual answer. And it’s not as often as you might think!

“You know, I think that’s what the main thing is: you should never have to go. You should want to go. And when it comes to physical activity and keeping yourself in shape, you should find something you like to do. I like to lift heavy things.

“And for me, to keep this sort of feel, around four times a week. [How long I work out] depends. If I have half an hour on my schedule, it’s 30 minutes. If I have two and a half hours, I’ll stay in there for two and a half hours.”

Yes, it turns out that you only have to need to want to go to the gym four times a week to look like John Cena! (NOTE: This assumes you are working with a base level of already being John Cena. People who aren’t John Cena may need to want to go to the gym more than four times a week to look like John Cena. At least, that’s what our leading scientists say. No one can know for certain.)