BY JOE GENCO
A Short Take on Today’s News:
- New Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sided with the liberals in declining for the court to hear a case in which a lower court protected funding for Planned Parenthood. Wasn’t he given a seat on the Court to rule on cases like that? How is it Trump appointed an Obama justice who protected Planned Parenthood?
- Voyager II, launched in 1977, has entered interstellar orbit.
- In the wake of riots, French President Macron has agreed to reduce a tax increase and lift minimum wage by $150 per month. The government will be paying the increased minimum wage.
- President Trump and Democratic congressional leaders are on a collision course because he is still defending Saudi Arabia and pressing for funding for the Trump Memorial Wall. The real problem is he doesn’t have enough Republican votes to keep the government from shutting down even before the Dems take the House majority. Is it OK to call it the Trump Memorial Wall if he’s not dead yet?
- Finding a new Chief of Staff for President Trump is a lot like him finding competent legal representation — anyone capable of the job looks at the parameters and considers a short-term gig with untenable expectations is not worth tainting an otherwise successful career.
- 32 rambunctious Quaker protesters gathered at the Tijuana border were arrested.
- WNY Weather: 0 (32) today 2 (35) tomorrow. No snow in site and warmer for the weekend. Is it worth changing the oil on the snowblower? I think I did it last year.
- Planning is moving forward for the “North Aud block”, a 2-acre site in the heart of the now-bustling downtown Buffalo core.
- Boyd Curiosity: More than half the whales in the ocean are less than 15 feet long.
- Maria Butina, the Russian woman who infiltrated the NRA in an attempt to influence US elections, has pleaded guilty to one count of acting as an unregistered foreign agent.
- Sizing up plants that look good in a winter garden.
- UB’s men’s basketball team is up to No. 14 in the country. Looking forward to seeing what it does at the Carrier Dome.
- With LeSean McCoy undergoing an MRI and Chris Ivory banged up, is it time for Keith Ford?
- Carter Hutton is close to returning from injury. Linus Ullmark is playing until then. I wonder if Scott Wedgewood gets a shot.
He was given the seat to rule on law.