@21:00, 1/27/18

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1

Opinion

Trump Hits Alps, but Melania Is Frosty in Florida

By MAUREEN DOWD | Jan 27th 2018

The weather’s been stormy at the White House.

I do not wish Trump any joy.

2

Arts

Museum Told White House: No Van Gogh, but Here’s a Gold Toilet

By MATT STEVENS | Jan 26th 2018

Officials at the Guggenheim Museum are being tight-lipped about a report in the The Washington Post that describes a strange email sent by the museum’s chief curator.

I could twist the irony several ways.

3

Opinion

After Surgery in Germany, I Wanted Vicodin, Not Herbal Tea

By FIROOZEH DUMAS | Jan 27th 2018

My doctor told me that feeling pain during recovery from surgery is normal. Why was I so resistant?

A glowing recommendation.

4

World

China Embraces a Game About a Traveling Frog

By KAROLINE KAN and AUSTIN RAMZY | Jan 26th 2018

For whatever reason, Travel Frog, an extremely low-key Japanese mobile game, is a hit in China. “You don’t even need to think about anything,” one player explained.

Blinking lights.

Tetris is a better bit of mindlessness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris

5

Opinion

The Necessity of Stephen Miller

By ROSS DOUTHAT | Jan 27th 2018

You can’t make a lasting bargain on immigration without a restrictionist at the table.

No bargain is possible or necessary.
Spanish is an official language of the United States.
Puorto Ricans are citizens.
Spanish land grants are valid.

6

Travel

A Minneapolis Hotel With Northwoods Style (and Flavor)

By ELAINE GLUSAC | Jan 27th 2018

The Hewing Hotel has the spirit of the state, from the loons in the wallpaper to the cedar sauna on the roof.

Nostalgia.   Main, Idaho or Washington.  Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula are close approximations of Minnesota.   The Boundary Waters have no lodges.
Think Lake of the Woods.

7

Times Insider

Faked: The Headquarters. The Followers. The Influence?

By ED WINSTEAD | Jan 27th 2018

The Times investigated the shadowy world of buying and selling social media followers. Here’s how the team untangled who was real, and who was a bot.

"“People have suspected for a long time that social media is rotten with fraud and fakery. But it’s very hard to prove,” Mr. Confessore said. “And now, I think, perhaps for the first time, we’ve been able to show the entire economy at work.”"

8

Opinion

The G.O.P.’s Bonfire of the Sanities

By BRET STEPHENS | Jan 27th 2018

Republicans prove that even paranoids have friends.

Schizophrenia, paranoia and psychopathy are not mutually exclusive.

9  

Books

Delving Into the Bipolar Mind

By MARYA HORNBACHER | Jan 26th 2018

Three memoirs take varying approaches to capturing how a mental disorder can upend a person’s life.

Digging the idea rather than the process.

10

Opinion

Why Is Hollywood So Liberal?

By NEIL GROSS | Jan 27th 2018

Three possible explanations from demography, history and psychology.

Understanding human behavior is the content of both the actor's and the writer's trades.
The understanding is practical rather than theoretical.
Attempts at the presentation of theoretical understandings are very strange.  Those attempts tend to age badly and quickly.
For examples look at surrealist films from the twenties, socialist film from the same period and early soviet propaganda films.  Add to those
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Emperor_Jones_%281933_film%29 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom%27s_Cabin_%281927_film%29
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged_%28film_series%29

Illiberal films do not do well.
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