The Fourth Estate is Not Our Friend

Democrats, it's time to accept a hard truth:  The National News Media, whether intentionally or unintentionally, is actively working against us.

This morning, I had to blow off some steam, still full of energy, even though I didn't sleep a wink last night.  While at the gym, I saw a friend, and we talked bout the election.  Paraphrasing her comments, she said, "I think the parties are at the extremes.  Most of us are in the middle, but the parties are on the far extremes.  Take immigration.  One side is about building a wall, and the other side is about letting everyone in."

I stopped her.  "Who said the Democrats were about letting everyone in?  They actually worked with one of the most conservative Senators to write a bipartisan border bill endorsed by many conservatives.  THAT'S THE MIDDLE! Working together with the other side is technically the middle ground. Trump was the one who ordered it killed so he could campaign against it."  

I then pressed her further. "Do you think the economy is good or bad right now?"

She responded by saying "It costs me more for food so..."

"But it always costs more for food.  That's inflation.  Do you know the country's economy today is one of the strongest we've ever had?"

She seemed to have no idea.

These are two separate issues, which were primary talking points this election cycle, and yet a woman who I don't believe is an avid right winger didn't seem to have any idea of the truth.  As a matter of fact, she seemed a bit stunned when I informed her of the truth.

She's not alone.  The national news media has been stunningly inept this year, constantly pandering the the Republican base while holding the Democrats to an impossible standard.  I'm not talking about Fox News, OAN, RT, or Newsmaxx.  We know those entities exist only to push Republicans' talking points.  I'm talking about CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, The New York Times, The Washington Post, the LA Times, Huffington Post, AP News, and others, news media who advertise themselves as beacons of truth when all they really are is echo chambers for Republicans talking points and platforms for biased reporting.

The consummate example of this was Joe Biden.  In the aftermath of his debate performance, the national news media ran with Trump campaign talking points and fluffed up editorials, demanding (as they described it) the 'clearly incompetent candidate' step down. Yet the last three weeks of the Presidential campaign featured a clearly mentally compromised Trump who stumbled and slurred his way through incohesive sentence after incohesive sentence.  I still have yet to see ANY of the national news media talk about whether Trump was fit for office.  On the contrary, they always seemed to take the attitude of "Oh Donald, you scamp!"

Is this overt bias intentional or not?  I think a little bit of both.  Most national news media is owned by far-right owners who want to push a Republican narrative, and their daily content is deeply intertwined with the sales team and their desire to not upset Republican advertisers, advertisers who use their buying power to control the narrative.  The days of editors standing up to the sales team for the integrity of the "news" are long gone. At first, it was giving a little more favorable coverage of a Republican-leaning story, insisting "we're just covering the news" (think the Hillary fake email scandal of 2016).  Today it's almost as if the Republicans themselves are writing the stories and handing the copy to the media to print. IF there is any clarity or counterpoint at all, it's usually buried ten to twenty paragraphs deep, well away from the pro-Republican/anti-Democratic headline.

I'm not saying they shouldn't have covered Biden's bad debate performance, but they did so with such eagerness, determination, and gusto.  The bigger crime is that as they covered Biden, screaming, "It's newsworthy," THEY made the decision that Trump's antics and disqualifying behavior weren't newsworthy.

This is the point where national news media will feign outrage! "How DARE you, sir!  We have indeed addressed Trump's antics!" If you put out 20 news articles and in the 20th, at paragraph 12, you finally shine a slight bit of light on Trump, THAT'S NOT EQUAL! That's only you creating, at the bare minimum, a pathetic false equivalency to justify your other 20 articles running with the Right's talking points.

This is all by design. Republicans are masters at controlling the national narrative and have created a machine that actively puts the collective national news media on the Republican side of the media scale, pushing down with brazen intensity, making it virtually impossible for the average reader/listener/viewer to get an unbiased perspective.  

There are some good news outlets still out there.  NPR does an okay job, as does the bellwether, the BBC and most states/cities have one or two independent journalism options (think Heartland Signal, Sahan Journal, or Minnesota Reformer in the upper midwest), but the pickings are slim.

Part of this situation is the Democrats' own fault.  Multiple times, a progressive/left-leaning media network has tried to gain traction. On the radio airwaves, the Air America Radio Network launched in the mid-2000s, and Current TV tried to launch in the 2010s.  Instead of nurturing and funding these fledgling networks like the Republicans do, the Democratic Party belligerently went out of its way to not support them, then acted stunned when both of those ventures crumbled.  

The Democrats are outmatched by the Right AND themselves.

What can we do about this?  My suggestion is to reject the national news media.  Find the one or two outlets that seem to still have a level of journalistic integrity and delete the rest of them from your life. If enough people turn away from them, then maybe (although unlikely) they might change their ways. 

Also, support the media outlets that are trying to give you a more fair perspective.

A major reason Donald Trump is back in the White House is the intentional/unintentional coordination with the national news media.  I don't believe they can be trusted anymore. 

What We All Just Lost

Congratulations Republicans! Donald Trump has won another term in the White House. 

No matter if you voted for him because you're a racist, a selfish billionaire, or just a petty small person who will gladly drown on the Titanic as long as you can be 10 feet higher up on the deck so you can watch your perceived enemies drown before you do, you succeeded! You voted for a guy who said he liked Hitler AND was best pals with Jeffery Epstein, even riding on Epsteins child sex plane to the child sex island.  Now, let's see what you're in store for!

Here are all the things you've lost:

Social Security

Medicaid

Medicare (I know you Rightos think that Trump will only cancel those social safety net programs for the Democrats, but that's not how all this works.  You will lose your benefits too, but Trump will convince you you're better off without them, even though you most definitely are not.)

Abortion rights in America

Contraception in America

In-Vitro Fertilization

Women's Rights overall

The ability to have sex, however, and with whomever you love, in the privacy of your own house. 

The Post Office

Vaccinations

Fluoride in tap water

Workers rights

Fair wages

The CDC

The Department of Education

Ukraine

Gaza

Consequences for Trump's crimes

Consequences for Jan. 6th Insurrectionists

Any Corporate regulations

Natural disaster relief (even in red states, the budget for FEMA will be gutted, so...good luck!)

Food Assistance 

Housing assistance 

Heating Assistance 

The Affordable Care Act 

Pretty much every social safety net program

Your right to not be stopped and detained by the police

A positive economy (Trump's plan to mass deport most of the low-income wage workers in this country at the cost of trillions of dollars, plus his highly misguided tariff gambit, will crater the economy and create a massive deficit).

Consequences for racism

Consequences for religious intolerance

The ability to go into a public school and NOT have biblical teachings thrust into your kid's face.

Pristine wilderness that might have oil or minerals underneath it

Clean water

Drinkable tap water

State's rights (guarantee Trump and that Supreme Court will suddenly insist the rights of the states do not supersede the will of the Federal government.)

Freedom of Religion

Freedom of Speech 

Any efforts to fight climate change

LGBTQIA+ Rights

Affordable prescription medication

Cheap groceries

The Middle Class 

Unions (outside of the police and sports ones)

Any potential accountability for the President (I bet he'll get the Supreme Court to find some way to throw out all the civil lawsuits against him)

Democracy

Fair elections

Plus much much MORE!!!

Prepare for a conservative Supreme Court for the next FIFTY YEARS! That's right! That Supreme Court will be having 6-3 rulings until at least 2070, ruling on the side of money over the people EVERY TIME!

And Trump will likely resign from office so his replacement can pardon him for all acts while in the White House, which means (say it all together!) President Vance! 

On top of that, the Republicans and the national news media will do everything in their power to convince you ALL OF THESE THINGS were actually done to you by the Democrats, and you'll gleefully believe them!

This is what you get for embracing misogyny, turning away from a HIGHLY qualified candidate for President, and electing a man who didn't have a cohesive sentence for the last three weeks, even pretending to give oral sex to a microphone. 

You win.  You own all of this! 

Garbage

Earlier this year, we heard of a sad situation for Minnesota State Senate Democrat Nicole Mitchell.  Amid a struggle with her mother-in-law in the wake of her father's passing, there was a situation where she was accused of breaking and entering into her parent's home to retrieve some things she said her father had promised her, but her mother-in-law was refusing to give her.

I felt she should resign (which she hasn't) not because of the salacious nature of the story the Minnesota Republicans were gleefully running with, but rather because she was dealing with something that has become a fairly common issue in modern families today, a lack of a clear will laying out who gets what in the event of a beloved family member dying.  For the record, EVERYONE should have this discussion before bad feelings tear families apart.  

Republicans at the time tried to spread this scandal across the entire Minnesota DFL, indicating this was just another example of how the party was flawed.  By attaching Mitchell's behavior to every other Democrat, they felt they might have a path to victory in November.  It didn't matter that many DFL'ers in leadership positions were also calling for Mitchell to resign. The narrative from the Republicans was, "They're all the same!!!"  They are by no means all the same, but (to be fair and honest) there was one other highly unqualified (and fairly disturbed) MN house candidate from the DFL, but the party cut ties with him earlier this year. 

What's remarkable is the two lies the Republicans keep screaming:

1) We are the party of 'high moral fiber.' 

2) We would NEVER tolerate such behavior from a Republican running for office!

These two OUTRIGHT LIES are laughable.  The MNGOP NEVER demands a resignation whenever one of their own says or does anything out of line, even when they are FAR WORSE than any Democrat I can remember.

Below is a list of SIXTEEN Republicans who, over the last year, have said and done things that should have gotten a political party with 'high moral fiber' to at least condemn them, if not ask for a resignation (Dotseth???...ANYONE???).

• Rep. Natalie Zeleznikar, 12/19/23 - Even though we all saw the new state flag selection process, this idiot tweeted out that an earlier version of the new MN State flag was a salute to Somalia.  It wasn't, but this launched endless morons insisting the new state flag was actually a Somali flag.  Let's not skip past the implied racist element of this argument.

• Congressman Pete Stauber, All year long - Stubby has consistently stated that the infrastructure bill known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a bill that brought much-needed spending to his district, a bill he described as "socialism" and will "devastate our economy" as he PROUDLY voted against it, has CONSTANTLY LIED the entire year that somehow he was responsible for the local spending he had NOTHING TO DO WITH! He voted against the bill but has lied constantly.  CONSTANTLY!!!

• Royce White, All year long - In a stunningly bad decision. the Republican Party endorsed Royce to be their official Senate candidate to take on Amy Klobuchar.  Not only does he have an insane amount of incredibly offensive, misogynistic, anti-LGBTQ, anti-Semetic social media posts, not only did someone from his previous campaign spend campaign funds in a strip club, but he seems to be FAR MORE focused on being an internet troll, having personally insulted me and others multiple times over the last few months.  A reminder that this is the current US Senate candidate for the Republicans, and all it seems he does is troll on Twitter.

• Sen. Robert Farnsworth, 4/2/24 - attempted to amend the omnibus education bill with an amendment that would allow kids to be able to graduate without Algebra II. HE'S A TEACHER! His justification seems to come down to "I never have used it so no one should have to learn it!"

• Various Republicans, 4/5/24 - A group of Minnesota Republicans went full conspiracy theory and introduced an anti-chemtrails bill.  The bill called for county sheriffs (?!?) to investigate citizen complaints about chemtrails.  There's so much stupid here, and you can guess some of the fools involved in this, but it was surprising that one of the moron sponsors was Senate assistant minority leader Justin Eichorn.

• Drew Roach, 4/11/24 - The MN House candidate, in 2022, was part of a group that was trying to stop a primary election in the city of Rosemount.  He was trying to serve a citizen petition to a city council member. Roach and another woman showed up three times to her house.  The third time, he got into an altercation with the council member's son, which led to Roach being charged with disorderly conduct.  Roach apparently was pounding on the door, and the altercation began when Roach said, "I know where you live, mother...er!" 

• Jimmy Gordon, 7/23/24 - The Republican candidate for MN House, who knocked off the incumbent in the primary, has a long history of tax delinquency, including a nearly $39,000 tax lien on him from the IRS, which was only resolved earlier this year.  The state of Minnesota has filed 3 tax liens on him, all of which have been resolved.  And he wants to make budget decisions for you! 

• Erica Schwartz, 9/10/24 - At a Republican fundraiser in Mankato, the MN House candidate said Democrats were leading the US into another Holocaust. Showing she doesn't really know what the Holocaust was, her justification for making this claim was Democrats promoting transgender rights, and too many Pride flags. 

• Kathleen Fowke, 9/18/24 - The sole Republican running for an MN Senate seat has extensive ties to big energy, but it's her home ownership that also raised some eyebrows. Not only does she own TWO multi-million dollar homes and two other Minneapolis homes, but the super-wealthy candidate used a homestead property tax exemption for a Plymouth townhome she doesn't live in. It's (fudgy) legal, as a relative lives there, but it does raise some eyebrows as far as a multi-millionaire claiming a tax break on a home she doesn't live in while her actual home is valued at 4.9 million.

• Caleb Steffenhagen, 9/13/24 - A story exposes the mngop MN House candidate as having worked with a group that counseled members against same-sex attraction.  When confronted about it he justified his stance by insisting that the Bible tells him to think this way, but he promised he wouldn't influence his votes.  Sure...

• Rep. Jeff Dotseth, 9/17/24 - It is revealed that the Representative, in 2008, was arrested and was prohibited from having contact with his ex-wife.  In sworn affidavits against him, he allegedly mentally and physically abused his ex-wife and his stepson and allegedly kicked and punched their pet dog.  He also allegedly said he would own slaves if it was legal today.  The alleged abuse of his ex-wife included slapping, kicking and choking.  His stepson is still today scared of the man after the alleged abuse he endured.  HE WASN'T FOUND NOT GUILTY! He plead to a lesser charge, meaning those sworn affidavits are still out there.

• Rep. Paul Novotny, 9/17/24 - The Representative was a police sergeant who responded to the 2008 domestic assault call on Dotseth.  HE KNEW! And yet he never said anything, even when he became a Representative. 

• Bidal Duran, 9/24/24 - The candidate for MN House, when he was a law enforcement official, had a state judge chew him out for "intentionally or recklessly mischaracterizing the truth," on two affidavits regarding a felony drug case. The case fell apart due to Duran's reckless behavior and there was an investigation into misconduct.

• Aaron Repinski, 10/8/24 - The GOP candidate for an MN House seat was at a fundraiser when he freely shared there should be strict limits on abortion, "maybe it's 5 to 6 weeks," before most women even know they are pregnant. When confronted about it, his campaign manager said he was unaware of being recorded.

• Nathan Hansen, 10/10/24 - The Republican-endorsed candidate for a district judge position tried to delete a lot of his former social media posts, but enough of them remain to get a pretty stark picture of Hansen.  THE MAN WHO WANTS TO BE A JUDGE promoted Pizzagate (the lunatic fringe conspiracy about a child sex hoax in a pizza parlor), said property taxes are illegal, and said satanic people run the government.

• Nathan Wesenberg, 10/28/24 - The astonishingly incompetent Senator likely is looking at a libel lawsuit against himself and the Minnesota Republican Party after he posted on his official Senate Facebook page a post that accused a teacher in his district of wanting to teach boys to give other boys oral sex.  This is completely made up, and it seems like the intent of the post was to get someone to violently attack the teacher.  When news media started to cover the post, Wesenberg meekly deleted it, but the lawsuit potential is still there.  

There are AT LEAST five other candidates I could've included here and at least 4 more GOP candidates who have been caught sharing their true feelings on outlawing abortion in the state.

The MNGOP is garbage. Not only are they chock full of unqualified and incompetent people who shouldn't be in charge of a SPOON, let alone an elected official, but the rest of the party, the so-called 'good Republicans,' can't even bring themselves to condemn the indefensible behavior of their candidates (DOTESTH??? ANYONE???).

Shame on them.  They are indeed a FAR WORSE option than the Democrats.

As you go vote on November 5th, remember that not only is Trump unworthy of your vote, but THERE ISN'T A SINGLE REPUBLICAN IN THE STATE WITH ANY MORAL FIBER.

Vote straight Democratic Ticket and take the garbage out!

The Friday Link for 11/1/24

With Election Week upon us, let's focus on politics.

First up is Epic Rap Battles of History with their traditional candidate versus candidate video.

Warning, some adult language! 

Next up is Jordan Klepper doing what Jordan Klepper does best, going to Trump rallies and exposing the insanity of the people there.  This time, he goes to a few of them with other people and the results are equally as amazing.

He went to the Reno rally with Thomas Lennon, who's best known for playing Lt. Jim Dangle from Reno 911!  How in the world they did not absolutely break up the entire time, I do not know.

And watch until the end because the retrospective thoughts are pretty spot on!

 

Also, from The Daily Show, John Leguizamo shows Trump's comments about Latino/Hispanic people to Latino/Hispanic Trump voters and it gets interesting.  The end of this video is also nuts.

Remember to vote.  Even if you disagree with me, voting is such an amazing unique right.  Your state's Secretary of State Page will have all the details you need to vote.

And everyone call everyone you know and encourage them to vote.  See if they need a ride to the polls! 

Have a nice weekend. 

The Friday Link for 10/25/24

It's the Spooky Season! 

This week I'm featuring some great Halloween scares for you, plus Lewis Black!

First up is Salem's Lot, the vampire story from Stephen King.  This movie is the original 1979 TV mini-series.  It blows my mind that this movie was a TV mini-series because it has some of the best jump scares ever in any horror film.  I just rewatched it last week, and I jumped like I did when I was 10. 

There is a new version of the story out on HBO, and although the story is not bad, they really went out on their own with the final 30 minutes.  I don't recommend it.  Instead, find and watch the original.

In this video, we see the scariest vampire since Nosferatu, the Master, aka Kurt Barlow. Here he is, coming to get Mark, a very recognizable Lance Kerwin, and how about freaking James Mason showing up!  

Another great horror film, and possibly the greatest horror film of all time, is The Thing. There is an entire culture geared around still trying to figure out the order of who the alien gets, and when they get got!

There are two main questions: 1) who was the first infected, and 2) who was infected in the end? I REALLY recommend watching the movie, but here is WhatCulutre's breakdown of who and when they got infected.

One more.  Here is the trailer for Session 9, a very low budget horror film with David Caruso. This movie scared the daylights out of me.  The scares come from a very minimal set and a relatively small cast. In the end, you'll be asking yourself "how did I miss all of that?"

Finally tonight, Lewis Black from The Daily Show takes on the scariest thing in America today, undecided voters.  Seriously...HOW? Trump loves Hitler?  How is that not a deal breaker for you? 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Stay safe! Get vaccinated for COVID and for the flu! 

The Friday Link for 10/18/24

Howdy all! I hope you have a great weekend.  I need to be short and sweet this Friday but I've got a fun one for you.

A few weeks ago I featured a clip from the TV show Game Changer, a comedian-fueled game show.  That's put out by the channel Dropout, which seems to be an evolved version of the insanely hilarious College Humor comedy troop.  College Humor was one of the first Internet comedy groups that really got the internet format. The two recurring College Humor bits/series that you'd probably know are Adam Ruins Everything and If Google Was A Guy.  Both are still pretty hilarious today.

College Humor, after an ownership change in the early 2020s, was rebranded as Dropout, and it is consistently putting out some of the best internet comedy.

Go watch Game Changer, but I am going to give you a few videos from another one of thir great shows, Breaking News.  The concept is simple. Four comedians pretend to be news anchors, but they do not know what they are about to read.  If they start laughing they lose a point.  The comedian with the lowest point total has to finish off the show in style. 

Enjoy a few episodes of the show.  Warning: There is some adult content. 

The last three segments feature someone I'm now addicted to, Amy Vorpahl, who just can not stop laughing, but it's the best kind of laughing.  Watching her lose it makes me smile!

LOVE her! 

I am off to celebrate my birthday! Please make sure you get up to date on your flu and COVID shots! 

And please make sure you are registered to vote, AND VOTE!!!

The Friday Link for 10/11/24

This week, a real mish-mash of videos.

First up is the return of Nate Bargatze to Saturday Night Live and with that, we get another visit with George Washington! 

Next up is a political post.  As a matter of fact, you can skip the next two if you don't want politics.

This is the introduction to the Colbert Show with Kamala Harris as his guest.  He did this in the style of the 60 Minutes intro from last Sunday.  It's very political, but I do like the payoff at the end. 

Next up is a great speech from Tim Walz in Michigan. His line about Trump's Chinese Bibles is amazing.  He is really good at this.  Especially watch from 5:35 to 8:40.

Finally tonight, what ever happened to Epic Rap Battles of History?  Sure they've had one or two okay videos in the last year, but they used to be so freaking good and consistent.

Here are two of the better entries from them:  Artists vs. Turtles and Harry Potter vs. Luke Skywalker. Both of these are...epic! 

Eclectic! 

Have a good weekend everyone.  Make sure to get your flu shot and your COVID booster! 

The Friday Link for 10/4/24

Howdy all! 

This week, I have a bone to pick with the Minneapolis-St. Paul haters.  

There has always been this metro/rural divide in America, mainly since about 100 years ago when people started to leave the farm and head into the big city.  Out of resentment, rural America started painting the metro areas of this country with a more and more negative brush.  

Now I know immediately I'll hear, "Metro areas badmouth the country way of life too!"  Yes, they do, but as someone who has lived extensively in both rural and metro America, many rural people CONSTANTLY bad-mouth cities, although the ratio in the other direction is dramatically less, something smaller communities falsely inflate to justify their non-stop bad-mouthing.

Republicans over the last 20 years have gleefully fanned the flames of this rural disdain of the cities with all the tropes.  "It's expensive!" "It's crowded!" ""So much crime!" "There is a 'bad element' there!" "It's confusing to get around!"  You get the idea.

In the age of Trump, this criticism got kicked up a notch. "THEY'RE ALL BURNTOUT HELLSCAPES, GHOST TOWNS, WHERE YOU'RE GUARANTEED TO GET MURDERED AND CRIME IS OUT OF CONTROL!"

I live in the Twin Cities metro area and I love it. There are great elements of living in rural America, but the quality of life my family has here is exceptional! As much as some insist it's overridden by criminals, I go out into the city all the time. I've rarely seen any crime myself and I feel safe in my city.

It doesn't mean it doesn't have problems.  Of course it does! Every town, big and small, does, but I've had it with people whose only goal is to hate for hate's sake, usually with an ignorance that is hard to comprehend. 

A few weeks back I posted the Chef Reactions videos where he LOVED the Minnesota State Fair and the Twin Cities. I also posted another positive video of a French woman visiting Minnesota.  This week it's The Endless Adventure and their visit to Minneapolis, which they seemed to really enjoy! 

Also this week ZeFrank has another hilarious MORE ADULT True Facts, exploring the mysterious world of the jellyfish! 

To everyone out there:  You have one life to live.  If you are unhappy where you are, move.  Go find your happy place. You will be happier and that's all that matters. It really is.

Please get vaccinated and stay safe.

Have a great weekend! 

The Friday Link for 9/27/24

Hi all!

This week we get a little science-y but first, we look at a Marvel movie coming out that I'm super psyched about.

Thunderbolts is the Marvel version of The Suicide Squad, with heroes and villains looking for redemption and getting a chance at it on a team that is...less than safe.  I think the bringing together of the rag-tag throw-away characters from the last few years of Marvel movies is exciting, but it's one individual character I'm most excited about, Bob Reynolds, The Sentry.

Sentry is a relatively new character in Marvel history, coming around at the turn of the century, but he ended up being part of an INSANELY good run of Avengers stories.  New Avengers, Civil War, World War Hulk, Secret Invasion, and the Dark Avengers. Pick up an Avengers comic from around 1999 to 2012, and you won't go wrong.

Sentry is Marvel's version of Superman, but he is horribly flawed.  I have no idea how they'll introduce him in this movie, but Thunderbolts is a MUST-SEE movie for me, the first must-see Marvel movie in a few years. Here is the trailer. 

The link is being picky, so click on this link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-94Snw-H4o

Onto the science!

A fun video for me was this one about the largest visible crater on the planet, FAR bigger than the one that wiped out the dinosaurs.

When I went to the Grand Canyon, I found out the bottom of the canyon was about 1.9 Billion years ago.  A Geologist said that goes back to the time right after a massive asteroid impact, which almost wiped out all simple life before it started to flourish.  I had forgotten about that little nugget until I caught this video about that specific asteroid hit from The SciShow YouTube channel.

Also From The SciShow, here is a video about The Doorway to the Underground in Siberia and how, due to climate change, for better or worse, we can't stop its growth.

I got my latest COVID shot and my flu shot for 2024 this week.  PLEASE get yours as soon as possible.  I don't want any of you to get sick.

Have a great weekend! 

The Friday Link for 9/20/24

Hey all!

I just literally saw this and decided to make it the top video tonight.

What if Trump was Sauron, courtesy of the game show Game Changer!

Also some laughs from two people who probably get NFL football better than anyone else.  These individuals make videos where they are the personification of every NFL team or their fans. 

First is Annie Agar who is wickedly funny and gets the team's facial reactions perfect!

Next is Tom Grossi who manages to capture the joy and agony of the fans. 

Finally tonight is the hilarious Sarah Cooper with her take on Trump/Harris debate! 

I hope you have a great weekend everyone! 

Get your vaccinations and flu shots! Stay safe! 

The Friday Link for 9/13/24

Happy Friday all! 

It would be cliche to post some Friday the 13th spooky videos (and it is something I've done before), but instead, I have part 2 of Chef Reactions' visit to Minneapolis St. Paul.

Two weeks ago I focused on his visit to the Minnesota State Fair.  A quick update on that.  Much like a lazy cooking video Chef Reactions would destroy, since the Fair I have viewed at least four other 'State Fair Food' videos, and they all were LAME! If you're going to come to the MN State Fair at least do some research about what food items are new and popular. And food review guys, if you don't want to wait in line for the best food options, what you shouldn't do is just grab the easiest food you can and act like it's mainstay MN Fair food items.  One video pissed me off as they only sampled marginal food items at booths with no line, foods no one ever talks about when they talk about the State Fair.  Those booths have no line for a reason.  You're not winning if all you do is punt. 

Just like he did at the Minnesota State Fair, Chef Reactions is a really good example of how you land in a new community and dive right into the local scene. Nice get on the Saints first pitch! Kramarczuk's getting a 100 out of 10 was AWESOME! Couldn't agree more. Saint Dinette (while it's still around) is a VERY underrated gem. And Matt's Juicy Lucy got a 10 out of 10.

Chef Reactions, thank you for coming here, PLEASE come back, and when you do, I have a few more suggestions for you. 

Also tonight is Stephen Colbert's recap of the Trump/Harris debate.  I was watching this at first with a group of station listeners at Crooner's and then at home with my wife and kids.  Watching Harris absolutely dismantle Trump was a thing of beauty.  

When the conservative pundits are furious that some idiot put the fake 'Haitians eating cats' story in front of Trump, something he would undoubtedly throw out there when he was getting shellacked by Harris, it tells you how badly the night went for him.

Truthfully I could EASILY post Kimmel and Stewart too, but I thought Colbert's was the funniest. 

That's it this week! Have a wonderful weekend.

Please make sure to stay up to date on your vaccines and flu shots! 

The Friday Link for 9/6/24

Hi all! 

This week I start with something completely political, and if you are a Trump fan, you might want to skip the video.

First this caveat, the New York Times is garbage.  We canceled our weekly subscription a few months back after it was clear they had a much harsher and more critical filter when they looked at President Joe Biden, versus Trump.  Most of the major news media has always treated Trump with kid gloves, and this election cycle they seem determined to put their fingers on the scale to help him out.  A much better synopsis of this flawed national news media can be read in the Guardian with a SPOT ON piece from Rebecca Solnit (The mainstream press is failing America – and people are understandably upset).

That being said, this piece from the New York Times is not so much flawed news coverage, but rather a piece about Allan Lichtman, a historian from American University who has a pretty successful formula for picking the winner of Presidential elections. He looks at the upcoming election and filters the candidates through his formula, and BINGO! He predicts...Harris! 

As positive as I think that outcome is, I will repeat what will be my mantra for the rest of the election cycle:  DONATE, VOLUNTEER, AND VOTE!!!

Okay, onto something else. 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' was a pretty funny show at times, and here are nearly 40 minutes of some pretty good laughs from the show.

The final thing tonight is a clip from Terminator which takes me back. This is from the 4K UHD HDR cut and frankly, this movie looks like it was released yesterday.  It's amazing how clean they can make images from (gulps loudly) 40 years ago look so clean.

It's the scene from the Tech Noir Club, but this scene is wonderfully shot.  It's also somewhat violent, so you've been warned! 

Have a great weekend everyone.  Please be careful in large crowds as COVID is back.  Please make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations. 

The Minnesota State Fair Fine Art, 2024

It's time for some fun Minnesota State Fair posts!

The Fine Art competition was amazing as always.  I will post my top five from five to one, and the the other pieces I liked.

#5 

#4

#3

#2

#1

And here are the rest I liked.  Enjoy!

The Friday Link for 8/30/24

Hi all!  I hope you have a nice Labor Day Weekend.

There is one more weekend of the Minnesota State Fair.  Earlier this week the sensational YouTube/TikTok/Twitter account Chef Reactions came to the Minnesota State Fair to see what it was all about. 

This is different than most of Chef Reaction's videos.  I've featured his MST3K-esque running commentary over online cooking videos and they're freaking hilarious.  Due to his popularity, he started making other types of videos, like going somewhere and tasting local cuisine. 

He asked his fans which State Fair should he go to, and the overwhelming response was the Minnesota State Fair, so he came and he ate. He ate a ton, and pretty much he gave most things he ate an 8, 9, or a 10 (out of 10). Nice job Minnesota State Fair!

He does swear, but look past that and see a guy who came to Minnesota for the first time and ended up having a good time. Enjoy! 

If he comes back, I'd recommend the Union Kitchen and a Pronto Pup. I promise I'll post his Minneapolis-St. Paul restaurant review when it comes out. 

Also this weekend the channel Sprockets In Time takes a look at the disaster movies from the 1970s.  I remember growing up with these movies and how popular they were.  I also remember not only the TV ads for these movies but the full-page newspaper ads.  They left an impression as a kid.

This recap starts with the Posideon Adventure and ends with the end of the Disaster genre with When Time Ran Out.  Then again 2012 was like the granddaddy of the disaster films. 

Finally this week was a political rant I did which was featured on CliffsEdge, my friend Cliff Schecter's YouTube page.  It's how the movie Armageddon influenced who MAGA is today.  It has over 70,000 views.  I am stunned and humbled.  

Please watch and share if you like it.

Have a great and safe weekend.

Please make sure you get all your vaccinations.  I am getting mine in a few weeks at the VA! 

The Friday Link for 8/23/24

It's DNC week and I've been loving it.  

I love the tone of this convention, taking the threat to our democracy seriously!  When Michelle Obama spoke the other night, she no longer was "when they go low, we go high."  She seemed to be drawing from a different cultural standard this time.

I'll turn it over to the Representative from New Mexico..."Say my name!"

And here was the fun Minnesota delegation in action! 

Also this week, on James Whale Bake Sale, Bill Hader has a long discussion about the movie "No Country for Old Men.'  It's a good breakdown of the movie with Hader's usual wit. 

This is in two parts.

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Make sure to stay up to date on your vaccinations.

I want you safe.

The Friday Link for 8/16/24

Howdy all! 

This week I want to start with Minnesota! I have lived in other states, and while I have mostly enjoyed everywhere I've lived, nothing (in my opinion) matches my experiences in the state I was born. 

Minnesota has so many things to do, many of them free; many others are affordable. I've lived in places where there are about 20 total things to do within a 30-minute drive, and most of them are not worth a second trip.  I've also lived in places where there are a lot of things to do, but everything is overpriced. Minnesota falls in the middle.

Minnesota, and especially Minneapolis/St. Paul, are real marvels. Outdoor things, indoor things, a mountain of free things, a lot of things that you have to pay for but it won't break the bank. A great example is the Mall of America.  It's free to get into. You can just walk the place and burn 3 hours easily. If you want to spend a few dollars and ride the rides in the amusement park, try mini golf, or the 40 or so other things available, knock yourself out.  And if you want to spend big money, the mall can accommodate you too.

I also LOVE how many parks are in the cities and in the state.  The State Parks will cost you to get into, but all the city and country ones are free. Three Rivers Park system runs a bunch on the west side of town and they're all exceptional.  Bring bug spray.

Why am I cheering for Minnesota? I stumbled across a video channel FrenchTastic Explorations, featuring Marie, from France.  She is a travel vlogger with an extensive library.  She travels places and doesn't just focus on one or two things.  I can't stand travel videos that treat their destinations as a cliche.  She travels like a real traveler would, like if you were coming up to visit an old high school friend.  I have no idea who coordinates her days, but they do a very good job. It's good fun.  

She has made her way to Minnesota and so far she's having a blast.  She is also very complimentary of our state.  

Here is her first video from Minnesota.  Click on her page to find them all, plus travel videos from across the world.

Get ready to laugh for the next video.  One of Colbert's best bits is Community Calendar, where he and a celebrity review the happenings from the celebrity's hometown.  Colbert brings in the hilarious Sean Hayes to give us the Chicago Community Calendar just in time for the DNC! 

The final video tonight is a fun one revisiting Middle-Class foods that no longer are regulars on the family table. I remember more than a few of these recipes, and I actually want to try to make a few of them too.

Have a great weekend. Please be careful with COVID.  It is really dangerous right now.

Stay up to date on your vaccinations.

Please try to stay healthy! 

The Friday Link for 8/9/24

Howdy, all!

This week we get really science-y! We start with Planet X.  Planet X is a long sought-after huge planet that supposedly orbits past Pluto.  The planet is hypothetical, but people became fascinated with the concept of it after the finding of Uranus and Neptune.  When they discovered Neptune, they noticed there were orbital readings from it which seemed to imply another planet was further out.  When they found Pluto, they thought that was the answer to Neptune, but it was later they realized Pluto didn't meet the mathematical properties needed to understand Neptune's orbital issues.

So where is Planet X?  Neil deGrasse Tyson and Chuck Nice take to Star Talk to talk about Planet X, and without trying to be a spoiler, I am not holding my breath any longer. 

Let's stay in space for the next video.  Is Betelgeuse about to become a once-in-milenia celestial event, shining brightly as it goes supernova?  Here is the latest on the chances of that happening soon (which really means within the next 10,000 years).

Finally, tonight, what created that big freaking hole under the ice in Greenland, and is it the culprit that wiped out the Clovis people, the early people of North America?  The science involved in finding the answer is fascinating, at least for me. 

COVID is still infecting people and killing people.  PLEASE wear a mask in crowded areas and on airplanes.  Make sure you stay up to date on your vaccinations.

Have a good weekend everyone! 

The Friday Link for 8/2/24

Howdy all! 

I'm just back from California where I had a wonderful visit to San Francisco, Yosemite, and other National Parks. This was the third time in a row I happened to be on the road when the summer Olympics were on. We watched the opening ceremony from our Airbnb in Yosemite.

So far the best moment (in my opinion) has not come from the inspirational gymnastics team, or the entertaining pool, but from all places the rugby pitch.  The USA has not had the best success in rugby, but they had an all-time sports moment in Paris.  The women's team had played themselves to the medal round and faced Australia for the bronze medal.  Most people were not expecting the USA to win.

The US did us proud and held the Aussies to a tie for most of the game, but the end got wild.  Start watching at 4 minutes to see the crazy end of the match and one of the most unbelievable stunning comebacks in all of sports history.  

FYI, you have to watch this on YouTube but follow the link and enjoy! 

The USA gets bronze! Speaking of the Olympics, Beyonce's introduction of Team USA was so good.  Having been out in Republican areas and Democratic areas with the Olympics going on, you realize how much this event DOES bring this country together.

Also this Friday, Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds are riding high with the biggest 'R' rated movie opening ever with their Deadpool & Wolverine. During their media circuit to promote the movie, someone decided it would be a good idea to get them together on Hot Ones. This is funny.

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Stay safe.  Wear a mask in large crowds and keep your vaccinations up to date! 

The Firday Link for 7/26/24

 Hi everyone!

As everyone knows, I love Doctor Who, the British TV show where a time lord called The Doctor travels through space and time to stop bad guys and correct wrongs.  Sure they head out into the reaches of space but the Doctor spends a lot of time at various points of world history, primarily English history.  It's a fun watch, no matter what version of The Doctor you watch (did I mention the character can regenerate into a new character?).

But how safe would it actually be to go back to the Middle Ages?  In reality, you'd probably have A LOT of problems.  These are numerous so let me pass you off to a guy I have featured before on this channel, the Premodernist.  This guy is an incredibly smart historian who knows his stuff.

This is a long video, but it is thorough. Apparently, many things could go wrong and likely would go wrong for you, as a modern person visiting the Middle Ages. 

Since I am being a bit on the academic side this week, I will also share a video from PBS Terra, where new technology allows us to view the ancient path of the earth.  And some of the images are gorgeous.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Stay safe and get vaccinated!  Wear a mask in large groups! 

The Friday Link for 7/19/24

Hi everyone! This week's Friday Link is all about food!

I'm a big foodie.  My mother is a sensational cook and she taught me so much growing up.  I cook most of my family's food, I love cooking videos, I LOVE historic cooking videos, and my secret dream vacation is a street food tour of South Korea.  

In any given week I will watch 5 to 15 cooking videos, from many of the channels I have featured here.  Some of the end results look good.  Sometimes it looks okay.  Occasionally (especially on certain historic cooking videos) it looks horrific. But occasionally, I will stumble upon one that looks so good I'm going to have to make it myself as soon as I can.

This week, I had three of them! 

If you are not the cooking type, that's fine.  Watch these as good old fashion food porn, but if you like to cook and have most of these ingredients on hand, give them a shot.

Number one this week is a gem from Tasting History with Max Miller.  I've enjoyed many of his fun videos, but this one has me scrambling to the store for strawberries.  I never knew strawberries were so popular for so many years. Max does a great little history lesson on the strawberry, but the superstar of this video is the recipe. It's a strawberry tart, looks relatively simple, has bread crumbs in it (???), and judging by Miller's reaction (he whips out a "Y'all!"), it looks like it tastes AMAZING! My guess is it'd be perfect with vanilla ice cream. 

Next up is the always wonderful Ina Garten, with a recipe that I can swear I ate once out in Crete. Pastitsio is basically a Greek version of lasagna, but it is made better with the addition of bechamel sauce.  Now this recipe is a little more labor intensive, maybe not the one you want to do as a rookie cook.  That said, you're never going to become good unless you try it.  From what I remember from 33 years ago (!) it was delicious! Good luck! 

And finally tonight the second video I've featured from Sam the Cooking Guy out of San Diego.  This is Chicken Christopher.  Now two points.  Sam is making some of the techniques look really easy.  Be advised some skills are being displayed here. Also, I am not a big fan of timed cooks, especially when there has already been some prep work done. That's not the real world. Sam is doing a restaurant quality version of this, which includes speed.

My suggestion is to watch Sam do the 15-minute version and aim for your version to be 25 to 30 minutes, not bad considering how delicious that chicken looks when he is done.

Bon Appétit! 

Please make sure to keep up to date on your vaccinations and please be careful in large crowds! 

Have a great weekend! 

The Firday Link for 7/12/24

Hi all, I hope you have a great weekend.  Let's focus this week on Summer movies.  

The Natural is the greatest baseball movie ever made, a top 3 all-time sports movie, and an undeniable summer blockbuster.  Released in May of 1984, it went on to become the 14th biggest movie of the year. If at this point you haven't seen it, go see it.  Even the non-baseball, non-sports fan can appreciate this film.  My daughters have both mentioned how dreamy Robert Redford was back then, Glen Close was damn near perfect as the All-American gal, and Wilford Brimley is fantastic as the coach.

When it's on, I can't stop watching it. I think it's one of those movies you end up appreciating more as you get older, being able to relate to the person finally getting their shot and making the most of it. 

Here are a bunch of clips from that movie. 

I'm also going to post a scene from what I think is the best movie of the year so far, Furiosa. I know it underperformed at the box office, but that's a crime. This take on the background story of the character Furiosa from Mad Max: Fury Road (itself one of the best movies ever made) was deep, complex, suspenseful, and a riot. Here we see Chris Mensworth's shockingly good Dementus go meet the bad guys from Fury Road. 

Last tonight is the new trailer for what WILL NOT be a summer movie, but a movie I can't wait to see, Captain America: Brave New World.  Red Hulk finally shows up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! 

Have a great weekend everyone! Make sure to stay up to date on your vaccinations!