The Friday Link for 4/21/17

Prince...



As multiple music professionals have stated, it could be the greatest live guitar performance ever.  I'm going into the city to dance.  Have a great weekend.

The Day Purple Died

I was at Knollwood Cub Foods a year ago.  I had just checked out, was walking past the manager's station, heading for the exit, when I noticed a woman sobbing, quite uncontrollably.  A manager, whose own face looked quite ashen, was trying her best to console the woman.  Between sobs, I heard her say "How sad it is, every station is talking about it.  He went too early."

In the 100 yards to my car, my mind started working; politician, actor, musician?  It had to be someone quite popular, someone on the level of David Bowie, who'd passed away three months earlier.  Sticking with music, was it McCartney?  The whole world will sob when Paul passes away.  I then started thinking closer to home, guessing Dylan.  He's beloved here, and he's getting up there in age.  Then my phone buzzed with the BBC news alert...

I still can't believe it.  The curse of prescription opioids is a curse on all of us.

I've listened to a lot of Prince's music over the last year, absorbing it.  God, what a talented man.  There are so few people blessed with such unbelievable ability who find themselves on a path which allows their natural talent to blossom so robustly.  An incredible singer, an incredible guitar player (considered the best ever by many of the greatest guitar players), and an incredible writer so prolific it's hard to fathom.  He also loved Minneapolis/St. Paul and Minnesota.

In late 1991, my tour with the Army, as well as my time in Europe, was about to end.  I took a final trip to Scotland, to do some hiking in the northern areas.  While on the bus from Victoria Station to Glasgow, I started a conversation with a Scottish woman with soft chestnut hair, Jenny.  The catalyst for our chat was she discovered I was from Minneapolis.  Her eyes got excited as we talked about Prince.  She loved him.  No matter where I'd gone in Europe (Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Czech Republic, England, Ireland, Scotland) Prince was beloved, mainly by the women.  Jenny had a dual jack on her Walkman and we listened to Diamonds and Pearls, his newest release.  I never got to northern Scotland.  Diamonds and Pearls is still my favorite Prince album.

'Let's Go Crazy' and 'Take Me With U' are my favorite songs.  Here's the aforementioned McCartney (Paul freaking McCartney) doing a cover of Prince in Minneapolis.

I'm still sad...

The Snowflakes

You meet a new friend.  You go for a walk with the new friend.  As you're strolling down the street, you notice an African American family walking towards you.  Your friend abruptly demands the two of you go to the other side of the street.  You comply, but as you think over what just happened, you decide to ask your new friend, "did you cross the street to avoid the African American family?"  Your new friend insists they never meant for that to be the outcome.  They only wanted to see what was in the store window on the other side of the street.  You feel relived, but part of you wonders...

Now imagine the new friend does the same thing every time they encounter a minority approaching them on the sidewalk, over and over and over again.  Each time, your friend insists they're not racist.  They only wanted to see something on the other side of the street.  Their track record starts telling the real story.

Your new 'friend' is the Minnesota Republican Party, only instead of crossing the street, EVERY bill they introduce seems to be dripping with a racist undertones which can no longer be casually explained away.

So far in 2017, the MNGOP have introduced an anti-protester bill, written in direct response to the Black Lives Matter protesters successful protests in the Twin Cities.  They introduced a 'Stand Your Ground' bill after the white racist who gunned down 6 unarmed African Americans at the 4th Precinct protest was found guilty; a bill which would have made the racist's actions legal.  They introduced the Preemption Bill, written to prevent individual cities from writing their own labor/wage laws, even when the state doesn't address inadequate labor/wage concerns; a bill which was written specifically to reign in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, cities where Republicans have very little say in political office as they've abandoned all attempts at formulating a platform to win over inner city voters. And they've introduced a transportation bill which cuts busing in the metro core by 40%(!!!), defunds light rail lines (proposed and existing), and offers zero major road construction money for the soon to be twice as packed highways; transportation cuts CLEARLY geared at hurting the inner city populations of the Twin Cities.

The MNGOP might be able to dismiss one bill, but every bill they introduce has undeniable negative consequences for the minority, poor and inner city population, almost as if THAT was the primary goal of the bill, and the rest of the bill was written to give the MNGOP a thin veil of cover as they argue legitimacy.

An then there's the undeniable racism double standard the Minnesota House GOP has been displaying with the Rep. Melissa Hortman affair.  Rep. Hortman, the House Minority Leader, while the House was debating the MNGOP's racist anti-protester bill, made some observations.  While the Democrats were speaking, specifically the handful of minority female Democrats serving in the Minnesota House, many members of the all caucasian MNGOP were not on the floor.  Instead, they were in an anti-chamber off the House floor, watching a baseball game, while a group of white men played cards.

This was the GOP's own bill, a bill they screamed wasn't racist, but here they were, being belligerently disrespectful as the few minority House members spoke against it.  Rep. Hortman made a call to order and forced all of the House members back to the floor, stating "I hate to break up the 100% white male card game in the retiring room, but I think this is an important issue."

Recapping: There WAS an all white male Republican card game going on in the back room while the House was in session, debating THEIR bill.  But of course, the MNGOP was outraged by the "white male" comment, focusing their manufactured indignity in an attempt to hide their unacceptable behavior.  They demanded Hortman apologize.  She refused.  They wrote a letter condemning her, to be put into the official record, right before the House retired for Easter recess.  When the House returned to session, Rep. Hortman submitted her own letter, continuing to refuse to apologize for stating something factual.  Republican Speaker Kurt Daudt dismissed her justified letter, and her rightfully standing up for herself, as grandstanding, while at the same time insisting the Republicans, who WERE being unGodly disrespectful while their racist-ee bill was being debated, screamed at Hortman "How dare you!", demanded she apologize for saying something factual, never once acknowledged their unacceptable behavior, talked down to her when she refused to apologize, and snuck the protest letter into the record, they were the party that was trying to let it go.  Please!

Republican Rep. Jim Newberger made an undeniably racist comment on the House floor a few years back.  Republican Rep. Nolan West has a long history of absolutely disgusting racist comments, the absolute worst kind of racist rhetoric.  Republican Rep. Tim Miller called for a "civil war" against what one could only presume to be fellow Minnesotans.  Republican Senator Dave Osmek has a bad habit of using he term "wet dream" in his official Senate correspondence with Minnesotans.

Not one Republican has demanded any of these Republicans apologize for their behavior and/or comments.  Not one Republican has written a letter to be put into official House record condemning these white men's actions.

But the term "white men" being used by a Democrat in a less than flowery, FACTUAL statement has these delicate snowflakes clutching their pearls.

MNGOP, you're racists, or at the very least you embrace a lot of racist things.  You're disgusting people.  Is that clear?

Who are we kidding, they're probably currently writing a letter condemning me, because I labeled the actions of the four Republican Buffoons of the Apocalypse with the term 'white men.'  How dare I...

Spring Break, Part 2

Some more photos from the week and holiday.  Enjoy and comment if you like.  I know the Doctor Who and MST3K images might seem really lame, but I love the shows and I'm kinda lame, so...

President Trump, Week 12

Here's this week's list of stupidity coming from President Trump and his White House for the week beginning 2 PM Friday, April 7th to 2 PM Friday, April 14th.  This is likely not all of the Trump team's transgressions, but it's most of them.

Sorry it's late, but it was Easter and Spring Break (priorities).

The disclaimer: this list is designed to point out the incredible double standard of the Republican party.  If the letter next to the President's name was a 'D' instead of an 'R,' everything on this list would've had at least warranted press conference condemnation from the Republicans.  Many of these issues would've started immediate Congressional investigations, and some would've JUSTIFIABLY started impeachment proceedings.  Instead, the GOP is the guy, who after his wife and his girlfriend confront him about what the heck is going on, thinks as long as he says nothing and avoids eye contact, he'll be fine!

Take a Dramamine, and let's begin!

• The White House condemns the press leaks which imply there is tremendous infighting and turmoil surrounding the Administration, conflict which is undeniably true
• After the Trump Administration withdrew their official demand to Twitter, where they insisted on knowing the name of the individual behind a Twitter parody account, Senator Ron Wyden formerly requested to know why the Administration felt it needed to out the individual's name
• Trump settles a personal lawsuit brought by Chef José Andrés over a scrapped restaurant in one of his properties
• In regards to Trump's Syria attack, not only did Trump warn Russian (and in turn Syria) of the impending attack, allowing Syria to evacuate men and equipment prior to the strike, the US used 59 Tomahawk missiles, costing taxpayers 120 million dollars.  The runway we attacked wasn't close to being destroyed, and even was the launch point of another Syrian attack within 24 hours
  
• The Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos is ransacking the Department of Education's budget to the tune of 50 million for extra security for herself.  It should be mentioned no Secretary of Education needed such a luxurious service prior to DeVos, and DeVos is a billionaire 
• The Hungarian pro-Nazi group Vitézi Rend was apparently overcome with glee Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka visibly wore one of their pins around on Inauguration Day
• Trump personally profited after the Syrian attack because the stock of the company who makes the Tomahawk missiles, Raytheon, jumped upwards.  Apparently Trump owns Raytheon stock
• Kellyanne Conway, a White House Spokesperson, explains the reason for the turmoil in the White House is because Trump doesn't hire 'yes men.'  This highlights the double-talk coming from the Administration, saying there is no infighting in one sentence, while proudly bragging about the same infighting in the next 
• Jason Dore, a Trump Administration official, was outed as part of the Ashley Madison scandal.  Ashley Madison, a website specializing in sexual rendezvouses for married people (not with their spouses), had their customer list stolen and published online.  Dore was one of the names on that list
  
• It's exposed the two people most at each other's throats in the White House are Trump son-in-law and Advisor Jared Kushner and White House Senior Advisor Steve Bannon
• Trump orders Kushner and Bannon to stop squabbling and to have a sit down conversation while at Mar-A-Lago
  
• Actor Sean Penn describes Steve Bannon, a former executive Hollywood producer, as "a Hollywood wannabe" and "a conniving hateful bloated punk who despises mankind"
• A former executive for Steve Bannon's 'former' media company, Breitbart, warns if Kushner forces Bannon out, it will be "open warfare" on Trump
• It's pointed out the Trump Administration has allowed the White House Press Corps to be infiltrated with extremely pro-Trump, right wing, 'barely media' media outlets
• The US's Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley now says removing Assad from power in Syria is the US's priority, doing a complete reversal on her own policy from one week ago
• Trump's total travel expenses for the first 10 weeks in office are 23 million dollars.  The total for President Obama's 8 years in office was 97 million
  
• After violating the Filibuster rule to approve Trump's un-approvable Supreme Court pick Neil Gorsuch, Senate Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell insist they're committed to preserving the filibuster (...ummm...no you're not...)
• The Atlantic reports Secretary of State Rex Tillerson apparently doesn't have even a basic understanding of what the job of Secretary of State curtails
• Former W. Bush advisor Karl Rove states there are three distinct groups in the White House currently leaking information on each other
• KT McFarland, a former Fox News commentator, is Trump's third removal from the National Security Council
• After Chinese President Xi Jinping leave the US, he refers to Trump and his bombing of Syria this way: "a weakened politician who needed to flex his muscles"
• Republican politicians are now starting to openly question the need for Trump's Mexico border wall
• Trump seems to have zero plan in place for what next to do in Syria
  
• Nikki Haley stumbles through an interview when she's asked to explain why, if the plight of the Syrians is so bad we need to fire Tomahawk missiles at the Syrian military, it's not bad enough to allow Syrian refugees into the US
• Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insists the Russian interference into the US Election of 2016 is something the Russians should deal with themselves, implying the US shouldn't investigate
• Rex Tillerson states he's had no discussions with the Mexican Government in regards to them paying for the border wall, something Trump still insists will happen
• Apparently the sit down discussion didn't work as the internal fight between Kushner and Bannon has "crippled" the Trump Administration
• As the first 100 days deadline approaches (April 29th) Trump and the White House are frantically trying to rebrand themselves to find a positive list off accomplishments they can tout, even breaking into small groups to brainstorm Trump successes with whiteboards.  They are failing.  One administration member described it as "feeling like 5th grade"
  
• When Senator Angus King was asked by CNN if he understood Trump's policy on Syria, he responded "No.  Do you?"
• Erik Prince, founder of Blackwater, brother to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and former Trump Campaign advisor, now admits to an "incidental" meeting with the Russians in the Seychelles Islands
• Three different groups have sued the White House to force them to release the visitor logs for both the White House and for Mar-A-Lago
• Wife of Russian hacker Pyotr Levashov, a man who was arrested in Spain last week on an international warrant, says her husband was arrested for helping Trump with his victory
• Steve Bannon's 'former' news outlet, Breitbart, has been ordered to stop with the anti-Kushner stories which have been running ever since the Bannon/Kushner spat came to light.  Kushner apparently made an appeal to Trump, for him to ask them to stop
• White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer states more strikes against Syria will occur, forcing the White House to walk back his statements, saying nothing is imminent 
• Eric Trump insists his sister Ivanka is the one who encouraged Trump to bomb Syria
  
• Sean Spicer says the US's goal is to destabilize Syria, leave Assad in power, stop ISIS and create a Democracy.  He doesn't even begin to explain how the heck they plan on making that happen
• Trump goes golfing for the 17th time while in office.  He's been President for 81 days (at that point)
• It's pointed out as Betsy DeVos uses 50 million dollars from the Department of Education's budget for her own private security force, Trump's budget cuts the Department of Education by 9.2 Billion dollars, or 13.5%
• Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, claims Hitler (yes THAT Hitler) never used chemical weapons on his own people.  After being reminded of the Holocaust, Spicer then tries to recover by glibly implying he was actually talking about different methods of using chemical weapons on a country's own people, to validate HIS bringing up of Hitler.  He then calls Concentration Camps "Holocaust Centers." He then apologizes for a third time, insisting he never meant to forget about the Holocaust...WOW!
  
• It's revealed the FBI did indeed get a FISA warrant to monitor someone in the Trump campaign, Campaign Advisor Carter Page, revealing they had enough evidence he was actually an agent for the Russians
• House Democrats and Republicans reveal the classified documents Representative Nunes claimed defended Trump's 'Obama wiretapped me' claim, actually do nothing of the sort
• Trump now criticizes former President Obama for not attacking Syria in 2013, something Trump in 2013 insisted the former President shouldn't have done
• The General Accounting Office has also started their own investigation in the Trump transition  team, investigating whether they followed Federal guidelines and ethics rules during the Presidential transition
• The Anne Frank Center is calling for the immediate firing of Sean Spicer
• Senator Tom Carper has asked the Office of Special Council to formerly investigate White House Social Media Director Dan Scavino Jr. for violating the Hatch Act when he tried to electioneer Rep. Justin Amash's seat
• Another cemetery, this one in Arizona, is the latest to be attacked by racist/anti-Semitic bigots. I've lost count at how many cemeteries have been violated (I think 12) but all of them happened after Trump insisted the US didn't have a growing racism/anti-Semitic problem
  
• The Attorney General Jeff Sessions asks for God's blessing for a successful deporting of immigrants
• Sessions prepared remarks for the same speech refers to some of the people crossing the border as 'filth'
  
• Rex Tillerson, at a Group of Seven meeting in Italy, asks, "Why should the US taxpayers be interested in the Ukraine?"
• It's confirmed that former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort did indeed receive at least 1.2 million in payouts from a pro-Russian Ukrainian group
• While apologizing for his unGodly insensitive Hitler comments on CNN, Sean Spicer misspeaks and says Trump's trying to destabilize the Middle East
• A story emerges that four days after Trump proposed to completely wipe out the budgets for PBS/Sesame Street, the White House, having waited until the last second to organize the White House's Annual Easter Egg Roll, sheepishly asked if the Sesame Street characters were available to participate. They declined
  
• Former Chief of Staff for Colin Powell Lawrence Wilkerson, after hearing about the White House's inability to coordinate the Easter Egg Roll, states an Administration incapable of putting together such an easy activity should not be trusted to deal with Russia, Syria or North Korea.  No duh!
• Trump very publicly backs away from Steve Bannon.  He refuses to say whether he has confidence in him, insists he wasn't really involved in the campaign until the end, and adds, "I'm my own strategist."
  
• Media reports people are asking whether Trump's distancing himself from Bannon is due to the FBI's continued investigation into possible Russian connections with Bannon's 'former' news outlet, Breitbart
• Trump informed the Chinese President of our missile attack on Syria while they had dessert at Mar-A-Lago, seeming to focus far more on the chocolate cake than on the military strike
• Trump's tweet about the special election in Kansas contained 3 lies in 140 characters.  1) It was in no way an easy win for the GOP 2) The Democrats barely spent a dime on that race.  The Republicans wildly outspent the Democrats 3) No Democratic official ever predicted a Democratic victory
  
• Rex Tillerson purposely ditched the press so he could have a private meeting with the Russians in Moscow
• Trump, still attacking the head of the FBI James Comey, criticizes him for failing to jail Hillary Clinton, his Democratic challenger from the 2016 Election, as Trump insists she's "guilty of every charge." No chargers were ever brought against Clinton, even after numerous thorough investigations.  Trump is a non stop liar
• White House spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany says just because one of Trump's advisors was a secret Russian agent it doesn't mean there was any collusion between Trump and the Russians
  
• Reports state Steve Bannon is laying low, hiding from Trump to avoid from being fired
  
• The day Paul Manafort left the Trump campaign, he created a shell company which managed to secure 13 million dollars in loans from a Trump economic advisor and a Trump company, a Trump company where he is partnered with a Ukrainian born billionaire
  
   
• Health inspectors in Florida found 13 health code violations in the Mar-A-Lago kitchens prior to the Japanese Prime Ministers visit
• Steve Bannon allegedly received payments from a Super Pac while he was the head of the Trump campaign.  That would be illegal
• A former top British spy said Trump's already been compromised, saying his businesses have always had a lot of financial issues, and the Russians have always been there to prop him up
• The Director of the EPA Scott Pruitt's budget calls for 24/7 security to keep him safe from "violent liberal activists" and "his own employees"
  
• Trump starts floating the idea of replacing the head of the FBI, James Comey
• In a Wall Street Journal interview, Trump reverses course on four of his long held beliefs: 1) he now thinks China doesn't manipulate their currency, 2) he now says he likes the lower interest rates, 3) He now wants to keep Janet Yellen in charge at the Federal Reserve, 4) he now likes the import/export bank, now that someone explained to him what it actually does
• Trump reverses his negative course on NATO, stating "they made a change." He doesn't elaborate or explain what changes they made
• Trump once again repeats the 'wildly foolish for a President to state' comment "the US dollar is too strong."  The last time he said this, in January, the dollar tumbled in trading
  
• Trump threatens millions of American's health care if the Democrats don't negotiate with him to repeal the ACA/Obamacare
• Paul Manafort becomes the 2nd former Trump Administration official (former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn was the first) to register as a foreign agent, retroactively
• White House spokesperson Kellyanne Conway: "just because somebody says something doesn't make it true."  She should know!
  
• Former Trump Campaign Advisor Carter Page refuses to identify the person who brought him into the Trump campaign
• Trump admits to Fox Business the reason he's going after the ACA is so he can free up money to give to millionaires and billionaires
• Carter Page basically admits he and the Russians did discuss lifting the sanctions against Russia for invading the Ukraine, last summer in Moscow.  The quote: "something may have come up in conversation"
• Trump signs an order allowing states to defund Planned Parenthood.  Since the Hyde Amendment prevents tax dollars from going towards abortions, Trump's policy change will only stop other forms of women's health care coverage, such as mammograms, pap smears, and family planning, leaving no alternative in place in many states
• After Trump's initial Federal Government hiring freeze turns into a simpleton's disaster, it's announced the White House will lift the Executive Order
• The EPA's Pruitt tells the coal industry, the EPA's "assault" on their industry "is over"
  
• The Guardian now reports there's concrete and corroborated evidence individuals within Trump's inner circle coordinated with the Russians during the 2016 Election
• It's reported the person who brought Carter Page into the Trump campaign was former Trump Campaign Manager Corey Lewandowski, who introduced Carter to Sam Clovis, the campaign's Policy Director
• Chinese media is relentlessly mocking Trump and his 180 reversal on Chinese currency manipulation
• Trump desperately wants to reward a Washington State Senator, Don Benton, with an Administration position as a thank you for being an early Trump supporter.  Trump initially placed him in the EPA, but they fired him.  Now Trump is nominating him to run the Selective Service, the nations military draft board, a position Benton has zero qualifications for
• Trump's Director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, calls Wikileaks a hostile intelligence service
• Former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans calls Trump "the most psychologically ill-equipped President in US History"
  
• According to a Bannon ally, the White House has been warned that firing Bannon would lead to an "Apocalypse Now" scenario(?)
  
• Trump drops the Mother of All Bombs or MOAB (no I'm not making that up) a massive bomb which kills 32 ISIS militants in a remote part of Afghanistan.  FYI, the MOAB program costs 314 million, enough money for the budgets of Meals on Wheels, Planned Parenthood, the National Endowment of the Arts, school lunch programs and PBS combined.  Instead we killed 32 guys in a remote part of Afghanistan
• The White House denies the report they're preparing a pre-emptive strike on North Korea if North Korea goes ahead with another nuclear weapons test
• Trump's candidate for Drug Czar, the head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Rep. Tom Marino has received numerous large political donations from the drug companies themselves
• The Trump Administration only has enough money to build 7 miles of his Mexico border wall, his signature promise and issue from the campaign.  Mexico still will not pay for the seven miles, or any of the wall
  
• Trump stopped a rule from former President Obama which allowed small livestock farmers to sue large meat processing companies for abusive practices
• Carter Page's alibi in regards to his Russian connections is coming apart due to his ever changing stories during media interviews
• The White House breaks from former President Obama's transparency standard and refuses to release the visitor logs from the White House and Mar-A-Lago.  Trump's former tweets stated he would never keep his visitors private
  
• Betsy DeVos' appointee to head the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, Attorney Candice Jackson, has a history claiming discrimination against her, insisting she was discriminated against for being white/caucasian
• The White House has placed Stephen Miller, a man who's opposes women's paid leave and equal pay requirements, in charge of the White House's Women's Issues policies
  
• Trump, a man who campaigned on the promise he wouldn't take vacations or go golfing, left the White House early on Thursday for Mar-A-Lago, his 7th trip to his luxury resort complex in the 12 weeks since he's taken office.  He's scheduled to be at the resort through Sunday.  No White House staff accompanied him, no meetings or work are planned for the entire four days off.  He did have multiple rounds of golf scheduled

Can you imagine the full blown investigations into Hillary Clinton if her restaurant at her luxury resort was found to have 13 health code violations a few days prior to the Prime Minister of Japan dining there?  How about if a Democratic White House had botched the Easter Egg Roll event as badly as Trump's White House has?  I mention these issues because they're two of the more mild problems Trump and his Administration had this last week, and the GOP indifference to them points out the unmatched hypocrisy of the current Republican Party.

We've had 6 months of rumors floating around of a Trump/Russia connection.  We've had numerous members of the Trump campaign and White House lie about meetings they've had with the Russians. We've had multiple Trump officials receiving payments from the Russians.  We've had multiple Trump accomplices proudly brag about relationships with the Russians, Wikileaks and the hackers.  We know of at least three people who were members of Trump's inner circle being outed as Russian double agents.  We've had the FBI obtain a FISA warrant to monitor a senior advisor.  We've had Trump refusing to release his income sources, something which would go a long way to clear up any ulterior motives on his behalf.  We've had evidence and allegations of blackmailed and compromised Republicans and White House officials, including Trump himself.  We've had the White House running a counter campaign of propaganda and false allegations in an attempt to cover their guilt.  We've had government officials formerly say the reason what happened in 2016 is different than previous elections is we had one political camapign/candidate actually working hand in hand with a foreign government to undermine the American Government and American Democracy.

So far, there are no special Congressional investigations, independent Congressional investigations or even extensive Congressional committee hearings being planned by either the House or the Senate.  That's a disgrace.  Remember this when they all scream, "I was very concerned and bothered by the clear connections between Trump and the Russians!"

No, no they weren't.  They've placed party loyalty over the United States of America, über alles.  They're more useless than a sweater on a telephone pole (weird Minneapolis, weird).