white castle down or mayor mccheese

Though doubtless no amount of statecraft could ever manage to extricate Trump from the unconscionable lows he has already visited on the office, there are reportedly calls for Trump to delay his vaunted event, the State of the Union address, as another casualty of the partial federal government closure.
While ongoing culture wars and tribalism might spin the fact that due to the shutdown the White House scullery was woefully understaffed to stage a proper banquet and therefore emphasised Trump’s resourcefulness and image of playing a host who understands the palette of his guests, it really diffuses that narrative to point out that the same lamed apparatus also is a guarantor of safety, not just for the person of the president but the public at large.

errata

To illustrate how bad decisions—even ones wedded too—can be later reversed, we contemplate, courtesy of our faithful chronicler, how on this day a century ago, the proposed language to establish the prohibition of “intoxicating liquors” in the United States as the law of the land.
Championed by Congress two winters prior, the proscription was ratified by the then requisite thirty-sixth state (four of the new western territories voted as a bloc all on the same day) and the Eighteenth Amendment to the US Constitution was sent before the House of Representatives, passing the enabling legislation, known as the Volstead Act. The country as a whole went dry, according to the terms of the amendment the following year. The Twenty First Amendement repealed Prohibition in 1933 after large-scale bootlegging and organised crime erupted to mollify shifting public sentiment that stopped taking kindly to legislated morals and signalled a course-correction was necessary.

good fences make good neighbours

Though unclear if it will get the building permits, Chicago-based architecture studio New World Design wants to cordon off Mar-a-Lago with a gilded picket fence in order to isolate and contain some of the Trump syndicate’s most nefarious forces and minimise their ability to dismantle and do further damage.
The satirical statement is in response to the perilous shutdown showdown over funding for Trump’s border wall—now steel slats—which has precipitated a four week partial closure of the federal government with little signs of resolution forthcoming. Irrespective of the fact that the project would be ineffectual and a tremendous waste of time and resources, it does not represent most of the American people and most don’t want to erect a symbol of xenophobia and hostility for all the world to see.

extravehicular activity

On this day in 1969, the Soviet space programme accomplished the first docking of two vessels in orbit.
The three cosmonauts of the Soyuz 5 joined the crew of two in Soyuz 4 and transferred two members between the capsules through an airlock. The objective of the previous three Soyuz missions had been to demonstrate the technical feasibility of linking two modules but had been aborted for various reasons. This achievement paved the way for later cooperative and international missions. During a celebratory parade in Moscow a week later, the cosmonauts sustained light injuries during an assassination attempt whose target was Secretary Brezhnev who was riding in their motorcade. The failed attempt was subject to a Soviet media blackout for years afterwards.

herbaceous

For those of you living in jurisdictions that have not legalised the production and use of marijuana, Modern Farmer (really a publication that we ought to learn to check with more regularity) comes to the rescue with seven suggested smokable, easy to cultivate plants that you can grow that are perfectly legal, perfectly safe and perfectly boring.  Though plants like mullein (verbascum, Königskerzen, found both in Eurasia and North America) or sage (salvia, Salbei) might not sound appealing they are not without their pharmacological merits (see also) and uses in traditional medicines and many comprise the base and thus the bulk of other herbal mixes, so there is a demand for coltsfoot (Blandlattich) and mugwort (Beifuß). Check out the article at the link up top for further properties of the plants, tips on how to grow them in your own garden and how to harvest, dry and make your own special blend.