It wasn’t just another crook heading up the river…

BY JOE GENCO

A short take on today’s news:

• When former Trump fixer Michael Cohen was sentenced to jail, it wasn’t just another connected crook heading up the river. It was the beginning of an avalanche. Think for a minute: Paul Manafort’s sentencing is coming in March. How much can happen between now and then?
• Who is the witness Mueller is seeking so desperately to interview? No one knows, but he probably still wants to talk to the President.
• With nearly every Trump endeavor from the last 10 years facing legal assault, here’s a nice compendium so you can keep it all great.
• The old (Biden) the older (Sanders) and Beto O’Rourke are the top 3 in early Presidential polling in Iowa. Is that really the best we can do?
• If you don’t like those choices, how about Michelle Obama or Oprah? Hey, it beats another Hillary run.
• Embattled Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is resigning.
• Can a Hijab be beautiful? Certainly.
• Living in a Texas border town where 99% of the population is Hispanic, dealing with Border Patrol agents and immigrants is a way of life. With whom would you side?
• Bill Gates on how to reduce Carbon emissions. Read this. Do you think he wrote it?
• Journalists in Nicaragua have been beaten with batons, kicked and had their offices raided.
• WNY Weather: 3 (37) today with some chilly rain. 2 (35) tomorrow with snow. We have a 2017 Honda Accord home from a couple days on an extended test drive. Anyone have words of wisdom?
• Saw an old friend this week who greeted me as he does with the politically incorrect, sneering “Merry Christmas” with a challenging tone. You have to say “Merry Christmas” back or prepare for a punch in the nose, sort of like walking down the street in Ireland and being greeted with “in the name of the father, and the son”. Your choice: answer “and the Holy Spirit, Amen” or be ready for a fight. Such love.
• Mitch Albom visits Santa, who had 60 requests for MAGA hats and 50 for “Impeach Trump” bumper stickers. The end of divisiveness is not near.
• Boyd Curiosity: If the ancient Romans didn’t have toothbrushes, how did they clean their teeth? With little balls of wool dipped in honey.
• A family of six living in a makeshift shelter in northwest Alaska, where despite the sparse population, there is a housing crisis.
• Check out National Geographic’s annual photography contest winners.
• Why is the Buffalo Braves fan in me rooting for the Oakland Raiders fans to fuck shit up? For their final NFL game? I’m not bitter. Much.
• The Lions are like the Bills, trapped in perpetual mediocrity. From a Detroit perspective, the key to winning is stopping Josh Allen from running.
• The Sabres looked solid against the Caps. Eichel is a beast. Defensive depth is being tested by injury.