DDD EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR JAN/18/2017

THE MAIN EVENT

• Last week, Julian Assange tweeted "If Obama grants Manning clemency Assange will agree to US extradition despite clear unconstitutionality of DoJ case." Yesterday Obama granted clemency to Chelsea Manning. Well played, Mister President. Your move, Julian. I wonder what odds they're giving at Ladbrokes? 
• A Nigerian air force bomber on a mission against the Boko Haram Islamic extremist terrorist group has accidentally attacked a refugee camp, killing scores. Satan, laughing, spreads his wings. 
• UK Prime Minister Theresa May's BREXIT speech continues to reverberate through the corridors of global power... and online, at the Apple Store, where the British Pound won't go as far as it used to.

A DEEPER DIVE

• Israel's scandal plagued, right-wing extremist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the growing international call for the establishment of a Palestinian state as "the last flutters of yesterday's world." Oh yeah? Well... that's just, like, your opinion, man!
• The gunman who attacked a nightclub in Istanbul, Turkey on New Year's Eve, killing 39, has been captured in a police sting operation, and has confessed, saying he did what he did in the name of ISIS.
• If you plan on going to Washington in order to protest Donald Fucking Trump's inauguration, be aware that a James O'Keefe--a well funded, Far Right agitator with a known history of infiltration, agitation, and the creation of lie-packed propaganda on behalf of, and in concert with, more "reputable" conservative and Republican groups--is up to his dirty tricks again. See the above graphic and this link for more information... and be safe!  

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SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Ah, thank Cthulhu for Matt Taibi! I don't know if I could take it if he ever went the mushy-headed, leftier-than-thou, Putin-apologizing way of Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange. His latest for Rolling Stone--entitled The Russia Story Reaches a Crisis Point--is a must-read, no matter where you stand on the much-debated Trump Dossier, and the ethics of the media treatment of those materials. And it ends with a bang, too. Taibi writes:

...Ynet in Israel is reporting that Israeli intelligence officials are deciding not to share intelligence with the incoming Trump administration. The report indicates they came to this conclusion after a recent meeting with American intelligence officials, who told them the Russians have "leverages of pressure" to use against Trump. 

This is an extraordinary story. If our intelligence community really believes this, then playtime is over. 

No more Clapper-style hedging or waffling. If Israel gets to hear why they think Trump is compromised, how is the American public not also so entitled? 

But if all they have are unverifiable rumors, they can't do this, not even to Donald Trump.

There's more. Be sure to read the whole thing. It's killer!

2. How cool is The Watchmen? Not the movie, but the graphic novel. Turns out it's pretty fucking cool... especially if you dig obsessive creative genius. I've been a fan for decades, and I learned some new stuff from this listicle, which is rare!

3. As if life wasn't terrifying enough these days, here's a batch of supremely terrifying short films to keep you even MORE awake at night! Some of them are lame, but some others really dug their clutches deep into the old grey matter... like, for instance, this one...

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TWEET OF THE DAY

Protests 2009: Our black President is a secret Muslim terrorist!

Protests 2017: Please don't kill me. pic.twitter.com/YSbEMTjQjp

— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) January 15, 2017

DDD EXTRAS

• If you want to learn about some cool and/or weird things that happened on the 18th day of January, check out our sister-site, Useless Eater Blog.
• Over at Kubrick U, we've got a whole bunch of cool artwork related to The Shining, as well as the somber news of the passing of legendary Leonard, of "Hair by" fame. All this and more, in the latest Kubrick News In Brief.

THE TAKEAWAY

I lost an ENTIRE COMPLETE fucking DDD Executive Summary today somehow. Not even sure how I did it. Sorry if this one feels rushed, but it was.