I think the stress of these days-whether stemming from management at work, seeing complete moronic citizens in public who believe they are invincible from the pandemic (or that it has passed them), to, of course, having a President who embarasses the country on a daily basis. I have worked at home for over three months …
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Colin Kaepernick on police use of force against people of color "As police officers continue to terrorize black and brown communities, abusing their power and then hiding behind their blue wall of silence and the laws that allow them to kill us with virtual impunity…"Powerful words from Colin Kaepernick.#BlackLivesMatter #RightsNow Posted by Amnesty International USA …
(1) – The only rock and roll release I have on cassette, vinyl, cd, and digitized is Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic. I played that album so much in high school and college, and because it is still in rotation when I am at Planet Fitness, I have probably listened to Toys more than any …
https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2020/apr/27/coronavirus-map-of-the-us-latest-cases-state-by-state The chart reveals the startling death toll in the top ten states exceeds 49,000 or 16 times the number of deaths on 9/11. I know some will interpret the following to be extraordinarily callous, but I do like the visual display of the quantitative information on the map. Look at New York! “Patient Zero” …
As we know, the Democratic Presidential Candidate, Andrew Yang, whom I supported from his campaign’s infancy, unfortunately had to bow out of the process several weeks ago. $$ F**k Citizen’s United. https://basicincome.org/news/2020/02/united-states-andrew-yang-steps-down-from-presidential-candidacy/ Here is a great article to educate yourself about a Universal Basic Income. https://basicincome.org/news/2020/01/three-misconceptions-about-yangs-freedom-dividend/ UBI allows freedom, and that economic concept found in …
Hello East Portland: I am deeply disturbed. Just a day or two before his impeachment vote, the President appeared at the “March for Life” anti-abortion rally. (Think Religious Right). I saw a clip on tv with him talking about how much he supports the viewpoint of the pro-lifers and all life is sacred. If the …
Yang could not keep up financially. He would make a great Director of the Small Business Administration! “Humanity First” and MATH were Mr. Yang’s campaign slogans. MATH= Make America Think Harder. That message still applies, America. Mark — Thank you for your incredible support these past months. You all have uplifted me and inspired …
I clipped the following quote and it sat on my dresser for a short while. I cannot remember the source and I do not recall the writer. “But what I find most abhorrent about lawyers is how they play games, use word tricks, set traps, are not so much after justice as after winning, outfoxing …
We started the week with the Iowa caucus. More like, Io-what??? Technological problems led to chaos and embarrassment, and state officials apologized for not being able to call a winner. With Biden sliding toward Styx, billionaire Michael Bloomberg could capture a prominent spot as a moderate. Then on Tuesday President Trump delivered his State of …
More From the Yang Gang: Presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently yukked it up with Bill Maher on HBO before an enthusiastic crowd: During the intro, you see Mr. Yang’s book, The War on Normal People. A signature issue in Mr. Yang’s campaign is a basic income guarantee. I have been a member of the Basic …
The Yang Gang grew larger with Tuesday’s endorsement from comedian Dave Chappelle! https://www.businessinsider.com/dave-chappelle-endorses-andrew-yang-for-president-2020-1 The campaign also announced that Mr. Chappelle will perform two shows in the early primary state of South Carolina later this month, which will benefit the campaign. The shows will be in Columbia on January 29 and North Charleston on January 30. Chappelle …
The Urban Dictionary has two definitions for Illannoy: 1) The innate ability of Illinois residents with a “better than thou” attitude to upset other Midwesterners; especially those from Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. 2) A state of mind of Wisconsin residents exacerbated when Illinois residents consider Wisconsin “Illinois’ State Park”. Illinois passed legislation so that on …
I read the other day that the founder of Amazon, divorcee Jeff Bezos, is having a mansion built that has only 26 bathrooms. It will also have 11 bedrooms and two elevators. When the Defense Department recently awarded Microsoft a multi-billion dollar contract, Bill Gates surpassed Bezos as the world’s richest man. Thus, Bezos currently …
This post combines two subjects that I have previously written about: the illegal, illogical and infamous 2003 invasion of Iraq and rock and roll. In late September 2019, Jacques Chirac and Joseph Wilson died one day apart. The former French president led international opposition to the “War on Terror.” He argued that toppling Saddam Hussein …
I have compartmentalized the s***show in the White House for a very long time. Here is a primer for EPB: _____________ I firmly oppose White House efforts to increase tensions in the Persian Gulf to create conditions for a devastating U.S.-Iran war. The U.S. (i.e. President Dump reversing the progress made by his predecessor), in …
“I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing on the moon and returning safely to Earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind or more important for the long-range exploration of space. And none will be so difficult or …
Last week the Evangelical Covenant Church… covchurch.org… (the church in which I was born, raised, and am a current member), dismissed First Covenant Church of Minneapolis from the denomination. First Cov is a historic church, built prior to 1900, and has interesting architecture with a balcony that wraps around the sanctuary on all four sides. …
I have been an employee of the Federal government for over 25 years and never planted my arse in a Federally-owned building. Since that arrangement will change in a couple of weeks I have been purging my 10’x10′ cubicle of “institutional knowledge,” various reports, and documents I have not perused in over 15 years. Basically, …
The Eurovision Song Contest (Eurovision) started in 1956. Eurovision is an international song competition held primarily among the member countries of the “European Broadcasting Union.” Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio, then votes are cast for the other countries’ songs to determine the winner. At least …
I am officially old. Over the years my love of attending live music has centered on the performer. What a concept, right? I attended the first and third Lollapalooza concerts because of the lineups as it traveled between cities. These days a ginormous Lolla stays in Chicago’s Grant Park for several days with throngs of …
A couple of weeks ago I attended a rally for Andrew Yang who is a 2020 Presidential candidate, a respectable, intelligent man with insightful ideas regarding the fast-approaching tech revolution that I have previously written about on this blog. The crowd was youthful and enthusiastic! Andrew Yang will appear on CNN THIS SUNDAY at 7:00pm …
Colleges and cities have been wrestling as they consider monuments and buildings named on behalf of men who supported and profited from slavery or outwardly displayed racist tendencies in the earlier half of the 19th century and beyond. Tensions and protests have recently intensified across the country. On one side, people do not want to …
While in college on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, I rode in a car, a behemoth Buick Wildcat, with four other people en route from Chicago to Minneapolis. A winter storm pummeled Wisconsin as we drove, and we saw dozens of cars and semi-trucks* in the ditch. Tow trucks kept busy that night…ca-ching! We were …
Capitalism in America has created social conditions that ills the land. Capitalism in America needs regulation and rethinking. Why does America, the world’s richest country, fare poorly on the “happiness index” whereas the democratic socialist Scandinavians consistently dominate the top five and all four of the Nordic countries rank in the top ten, according to …
INDUSTRIΛL ΛCCIDENT from Wax Trax! Films on Vimeo. According to pitchfork.com, “a documentary about the influential Chicago label and store Wax Trax! Records has been announced. INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENT was directed by Julia Nash—daughter of Wax Trax! co-founder Jim Nash and owner of Wax Trax! Films—and it features interviews with Steve Albini, Trent Reznor, Dave Grohl, Ian …
Minnesota Golden Gopher Vern Gagne won four Big Ten and two NCAA heavyweight wrestling championships in the 1940s. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears to play football, but Gagne chose a different direction. Gagne decided to pursue professional wrasslin’. He ultimately became owner of the American Wrestling Association (AWA), based in Minnesota, which appeared …
Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was a leader of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. He would have turned 90 years ago the other day had he not been assassinated. A Baptist minister, Dr. King championed nonviolence and civil disobedience as means to make society welcome …
With all the hoopla surrounding the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, I decided to post about songs I adore that I find extraordinarily unusual and weird, yet rawk. I have always thought of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the song, as a bewildering masterpiece, despite not having a clue what the lyrics meant. About two months ago I heard …
Rookie Bear GM Ryan Pace decided against resigning placekicker Robbie Gould who at the time was da Bears all-time leading scorer and had a FG kicking success rate that exceeded the “legendary” Kevin Butler by over 10 percentage points. (Butler kicked for da Bears around their Super Bowl season and finished his career as the …
Beneath the Hollow is a four piece metal animal from Chicago, IL. With their sophomore album Nihilist, the band offers a dark, agressive and hauntingly melodic sonic landscape. I’d go see this band. The vocals on “Nihilist” and “Omens” from the new album sound similar to Corey Taylor of Slipknot, and that is a compliment. …