In the next episode of lying liars…

BY JOE GENCO

A short take on today’s news:

• In the next episode of lying liars and the liars that lay them, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn faces federal sentencing today but hopefully won’t be sent away for long.  The retired Army Lt. General did not know it was a crime to lie to the FBI.
• The Trump shutdown appears imminent because he can’t get $5 billion to fund the Trump Memorial Wall for which he promised Mexico would pay. He could put it to a vote in the House, where Republicans still have a majority, but the risk it wouldn’t pass is further humiliation and he won’t get it through the Senate.
• Federal Court Bureaucracy is breaking down because Trump administration policy does not parse with efficient law enforcement. The latest snag is judges dismissing charges against border crossers when they don’t appear in court because they were immediately deported after posting bail.
• Michelle Obama has published a memoir. It is expected it will immediately be a best seller.
• The show must go on. Nickel City Sessions makes the transition to the CD Wright Community Center in Akron as the host venue awaits renovation following fire. Special magic happens monthly in this singer/songwriter series. Musicians play original songs with the passion of knowing the audience is there just for the music, not for dinner, beers or to play on their phones. Be there.
• Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar is starting to rise in Iowa Presidential Caucus notoriety. It seems like a good thing.
• Stopped through Premier on the way home from work to a plethora of wine and liquor samples. The one that slammed me: Samples of Oban 14 single malt Scotch. I toasted the wit and wisdom of my friend John.
• Was driving the other day listening to WBEN when I heard whomever the commentator was talked about the liberal bias of social media. How can a platform like this, where anyone involved can interact, have a liberal bias or is it just a societal mirror in which Conservatives don’t like to gaze?
• WNY Weather: Sunny today and -1 (30). Warmer tomorrow and 8 (43). That cold patch in November kept the leaf lettuce I was hoping to harvest for Christmas from coming in.
• Did you know Canada calls illegal border crossers “irregular migrants?” Why is that funny? Pass the prune juice.
• Boyd Curiosity: A survey of secretaries indicates 53% think they are smarter than their bosses. Bosses were not surveyed. (Daily vignettes come from LM Boyd’s Curiosity Shop, published in 1986)
• A Nunavut community suffering from a spate of tragic deaths is blaming divers for disturbing 150-year-old shipwrecks.
• A Missouri poacher, sentenced to a year in jail, has been ordered to watch Bambi monthly while he’s there.
• This Tweet from Rep. Elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “This blows my mind: House Ethics Rules prevent me from receiving a $100 gift card or crashing at a place as I wait for rent money, but somehow allow members with investment portfolios to write laws that will personally enrich them $1000s in their own stocks; potentially millions.”
• Happy Hour at Community Beerworks Celebrates “Free Beer, Free Press” tonight as supporters of the Investigative Post gather to scheme against First Amendment reform and journalist registration.
• Keith Ford works hard and asks questions. He has earned every chance he gets.
• Eichel and Skinner may be on fire now, but wait until they play together a while and get some chemistry. Oh and tell me again about that Reinhart kid.