Awash with Ideas

Some good news.

"These gag clauses are now banned under the new law, as is a restaurant or other business’s ability to impose penalties of any kind on customers who do post bad reviews. The insanest of these was probably the Union Street Guest House’s in upstate New York; it threatened to make a wedding party pay a $500 fine for every bad review guests left on Yelp. Now that Obama’s signed the act into law, though, the feds have power to go after companies that try to intimidate customers into shutting up."

read more: Obama Protects Yelpers’ Right To Leave Terrible Reviews

"Consider, for example, Chris Cillizza of The Washington Post. When the Smithsonian opens its American Museum of Feckless Journalism, the Cillizza exhibit is going to be right there in the lobby, across from the statues of Maureen Dowd and David Brooks. It is Cillizza's contention that HRC was the Worst Candidate of the Year. Worse than Scott Walker, who never made it to the starting line. Worse than Marco Rubio, who left people unclear whether or not he was a malfunctioning replicant. Worse than Chris Christie, whose every campaign slogan began with the phrase, "To the best of my recollection…" Worse even than Jeb (!) Bush who was, weight for age, the worst politician on the stump that these eyes ever have beheld."

read more: Pundits Like Chris Cillizza Wanted Hillary Clinton to Save Them From the Truth of Donald Trump

"“The warrant application seems to reflect a belief that any email sent by Hillary Clinton from a private email server is probably evidence of a crime,” Katkin said. “If so, then it must be seen as a partisan political act, rather than a legitimate law enforcement action.”"

read more: The Subpoena That Rocked The Election Is Legal Garbage, Experts Say | The Huffington Post

"“hygge,” a Danish term defined as “a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being.” Pronounced “hoo-guh,” the word is said to have no direct translation in English, though “cozy” comes close. It derives from a sixteenth-century Norwegian term, hugga, meaning “to comfort” or “to console,” which is related to the English word “hug.” "

read more: The Year of Hygge, the Danish Obsession with Getting Cozy

"A new Texas nonprofit led by Donald Trump’s grown sons is offering access to the freshly-minted president during inauguration weekend — all in exchange for million-dollar donations to unnamed “conservation” charities"

read more: Donald Trump's sons behind nonprofit selling access to president-elect | Center for Public Integrity