Tuesday, April 15, 2025

Garbage, Bush and Stevie Nicks

I like Garbage -- the band.  Shirley Manson's a great singer and I think she gets overlooked a lot despite those impressive vocals.  Jessica Lynch (BILLBOARD) reports:


Shirley Manson is pushing back against media commentary about her appearance, calling out what she describes as "weaponised" language used to diminish women in music as they age.

On Saturday (April 13), the Garbage frontwoman took to Instagram to share a screenshot of a Daily Mail headline that claimed the band looked "unrecognizable" in new promotional photos for their recently released single, "There's No Future in Optimism."
The track is the first preview of their upcoming eighth studio album, Let All That We Imagine Be the Light, due May 30.

"Quite a header from the Daily Mail yesterday," Manson wrote in the caption. "What is THIS supposed to mean?!? The Druids look almost exactly the same as they have always done for thirty years, so I can't help thinking this is directed at me."

"Look – I'm nearly sixty years old. Of course I'm not going to look anything like my late twenties self?!?" she continued. "Quite honestly I think it would be a bit creepy if I did but hey that's just me. Either way – this kind of language is weaponised to put a woman like me in my place."


I'm looking forward to that album.  Here's the new video.





In other music news,  Lee Vowell (AUDIO PHIX) rounds up his pick of four bands that were overplayed in the 90s.  His list is Creed, Bush, 311 and Ace of Bass.  I would agree on Ace of Bass.  "Don't Turn Around"?  Tina Turner recorded that song first and demolished it.  Ace of Bass' sugary nonsense was soul less plastique.  They were not the new ABBA, ABBA had soul.  As for 311?  Seems a little harsh.  I think Creed carved out a place and wouldn't put them on this list.  I certainly wouldn't put Bush on the list.  Like many, I felt the band ended due to the Yoko -- Gwen Stephani.  Prior to Gavin marrying her, Bush made some great music.


Here's Bush's "Comedown."



In other music news, Michael Cerio (AUDACY) reports:


Stevie Nicks is adding to her 2025 itinerary, setting additional solo shows to compliment her already announced dates on the road with Billy Joel.

Produced by Live Nation, the added shows will bring the iconic artist to cities across North America, including Boston, Toronto, Tampa, Las Vegas, and more. Tickets are on sale Friday, April 18 at 10AM. Find your seats and more info here.

And heres one of my favorite Fleetwood Mac songs written and sung by Stevie Nicks -- "Beautiful Child."




Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:"


Tuesday, April 15, 2025.  Chump wrecks the economy and that includes tourism, Chump's deportation policies are illegal and one man proves that which is why Chump doesn't want him back in the US, they're going after Head Start, and much more.


Convicted Felon Donald Chump has wrecked he economy and the fallout continues.  Yesterday, Ruth noted in "Chump could be a wet nurse" that the real number of Republicans concerned about Chump's tariffs is probably much greater and that people have a hard time admitting they made a mistake.  And she notes how elected Republicans are beginning to voice their concerns which will break the ice and allow non-elected Republicans to get truthful.  Florence Muchai (CRYPTOPOLITAN) reports:


Republican lawmakers are worried that President Donald Trump’s pause-and-play tariff strategy could backfire politically and economically, potentially jeopardizing the GOP’s prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. 

Owing to how tariffs hit both adversaries and allies, party leaders warn the President that inflation, higher borrowing costs, suppressed consumer expenditure, and market instability could undo hard-won electoral gains.

Last week, Trump announced that Chinese import tariffs would clock 145%, prompting Beijing to retaliate with a 125% tariff on American goods. Though the POTUS temporarily paused trade levies for several other countries for 90 days, claiming they are now on the negotiation table, Republicans are concerned about the leading party’s reputation back home.

According to data reported by Yahoo Finance, the 30-year Treasury yield, closely linked to mortgage rates, saw its biggest one-week jump since 1982, rising to 4.88%. The 10-year yield climbed to 4.59%, increasing borrowing costs for consumers and businesses.
Conservative Senator Thom Tillis, one to watch in the upcoming midterm cycle, referenced the former President Ronald Reagan era in 1982 when Republicans lost 26 seats in the House, likely caused by economic concerns and rising interest rates.

“All the indicators would be ‘wrong track’ if we’re still having the same tariff discussions by February,” Tillis remarked.

Tillis is asking the Trump administration to finalize favorable trade deals within the next 10 months. But without concrete results, he said, the GOP would face “political headwinds” similar to past electoral wipeouts following tax hikes or trade disruptions.

Another GOP leader, Senator Rand Paul, invoked the 1932 election when the Republican authors of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, Senators Reed Smoot and Willis Hawley, lost their seats after their protectionist policies shared the biggest part of the blame for deepening the Great Depression.



When Democratic Party analyst James Carville says to let the GOP screw things up all by themselves, he's basing it on historical models like the above.  History often repeats. But not always precisely and it's rather lazy -- and a bit of a scaredy cat -- to talk people out of taking action on the hope/dream/prayer that things will turn out exactly as they did in the past.  And it also puts aside/ignores all the other things he's doing -- all the other illegal things. 



In a column for THE NEW YORK TIMES, Carville argues that Chump's con may be coming to an end,  "The problem is that smoke and mirrors only work until you screw up so hard that no act of lunacy can pull the American people's attention elsewhere.  And boy, did the president just screw up royally. In what will certainly be recorded as one of the most ignorant acts of political leadership in American history, the president of the United States has now willfully damaged the global economy with his tariff chaos."


The MAGA voters still hanging on to Chump are some who struggle with admitting mistakes and others who are just idiots.  Loved Reece Waters underscoring the grammar challengers of one Chump defender on TIK TOK.




"I'm telling you guys, he's very smart.  That's how the country was ran before taxes."

Was ran.

If you're that stupid, I guess you don't care that you posted a video exposing that you couldn't pass elementary school English.  "Was ran."  It's a shame when she finished fourth grade that they didn't let her keep the dunce cap -- especially since it appears she never went to any grade higher.


They lie to themselves that Chump has a plan, that this is going step by step, one chess move after another.  No, kids, he's making it up as he goes along.  Nicola Slawson (GUARDIAN) explains:


Donald Trump’s tariff war has plunged deeper into chaos after a cabinet official floated a plan for new levies on semiconductors – a crucial component in electronic goods – just days after the Trump administration exempted computers and smartphones from tariffs.
Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told NBC the tariff exemption on several electronic devices was temporary, and that new duties would come in “a month or two”. Semiconductors would be targeted, he said.

The president said he would lay out the new tariffs on Monday and that any relief for the electronics industry would be short-lived. “NOBODY is getting ‘off the hook’,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding: “Especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!”



President Donald Trump on Monday suggested that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector, to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains.

“I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies with it,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. The Republican president said automakers needed time to relocate production from Canada, Mexico and other places, "And they need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So I’m talking about things like that.”


You've handed the checkbook over to an addict with no scruples.  You're the chumps for Chump.  The sooner you wake up to that reality, the more likely you'll be able to help out the rest of the country. And even if you made a grave mistake in November, your help is still needed.  From Anne Applebaum's "The Kleptocracy Presidency"  (THE ATLANTIC):


The right question to ask about Trump’s tariff policy is also financial: How will this enormous change to American trade policy benefit Trump? One answer is already clear. The countries and large companies damaged by these tariffs, some of which could face huge losses or even bankruptcy, will have an enormous incentive to play up to the president, to offer him political donations, and maybe even to offer business deals to him, his family, or his friends in order to get some kind of exception made for themselves or their industry.

In a law-abiding administration, personal finances wouldn’t be an important part of the public debate. But this administration’s leaders have decided that laws and norms of behavior that have held for a century or more don’t apply to them. The Republican-led Congress has so far decided not to enforce them either. It’s now up to the media, to outside organizations, and to whistleblowers to keep reporting the slide into kleptocracy to the public and to the courts, to make sure that remaining laws are enforced. It’s up to the Democratic Party to follow the lead of opposition movements in other kleptocracies and to put corruption at the center of their arguments. Before it’s too late, everyone who can do so must communicate what is happening: American government, American foreign policy, and American trade policy are slowly being transformed, not to benefit Americans but to benefit the president, his family, and his friends. Only voters can stop them.


And we're going to have to because Chump is destroying the economy.   Matthew Chapman (RAW STORY) notes:


The United States is about to pay an economic price that Edward Luce for the Financial Times calls the "moron premium," he argued in an article published on Monday.

A sign of how far things have fallen on the right now, wrote Luce, is the constant appearances of failed former British Prime Minister Liz Truss to MAGA conventions — and Trump is somehow proposing a scheme even worse than that which got Truss kicked out of office faster than a head of lettuce could rot.



Chumps for Chump live in denial.  They are not at one with the world. Florence Muchai (CRYTOPOLITAN) reports, "The International Monetary Fund is warning countries about an impending global recession, citing US President Donald Trump’s tariff strategy and geopolitical indifferences as factors that could destabilize global financial markets. In a report released Monday, the IMF cautioned that escalations in geopolitical risk, especially related to trade conflicts, could lead to major and lasting corrections in global asset prices. The global lender noted recent developments, particularly the White House’s tariff agenda, have introduced a “heightened uncertainty” that could disrupt macro-financial stability across economies."  Need some more bad news?  Elliot Gulliver-Needham (CITY AM) reported yesterday, "The dollar has fallen 0.7 per cent today, marking its fifth straight day of decline, as markets continue to reassess the currency’s position in the global economy. The DXY index, which tracks the dollar’s value against a basket of currencies, dropped to its lowest in three years in trading today." David Blond (MARKETWATCH) explains:


The impact of Trump’s on-and-off again tariffs will be practically immediate. Americans likely will see the choking of supply chains across all industries as companies decide to wait to clear their orders through U.S. Customs. Stores will have less to sell and need fewer salespeople.  Americans don’t have to wait for the knock-on effects in the CPI; it could show up in farmers not planting as many soybeans or retailers wondering if ordering in June for the December holiday season is too much of a risk.

The point I’m making is that the U.S. is not the trade titan that Trump believes we are. Important? Yes. But the world can do without selling to or buying from American companies and farmers. A 90-day pause in U.S. import tariffs will not bring back trade-policy sanity, and other countries have no good reason to negotiate with a U.S. president who could tear up signed agreements on a whim.  




Other damage he's doing?  The United States makes a lot of money from foreigners traveling here for various events, conventions and sight seeing journeys.  Dallas, TX?  A magnet for people around the world who want to remember President John F. Kennedy.  And a ton of people do because President Kennedy was a monumental and historical figure -- unlike his nephew Tiny Balls Junior who is an embarrassment.  Florida?  The incredible beaches.  Key Largo, Key West.  DISNEY WORLD, UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA THEME PARK, Daytona Beach, The Dahil Museum, etc, etc.  California?  DISNEYLAND Park, the wineries, the film studios, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz Island, Pier 39, the beaches, the San Diego Zoo, Catalina Island, Big Sur, Joshua Tree, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Santa Monica Pier, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Mission San Juan Bautista . . .  New York has the Statue of Liberty, the Museum Of Modern Art, Central Park, Empire State Building, Time Square, Grand Central Terminal . . .  That's just a few things in a few states.  Most of the states have major tourist attractions.  And tourists from outside the US coming here accounts for a lot of money each year. 

Do you get how much money that is?  How many industries that impacts?  You've got the airline industry, you've got the car industry if the visitors rent a car, you've got taxis and Ubers, you've got hotels and motels, you've got eateries, you've got bars, many of the points of interest have fees visitors have to pay, you've got the clothing industry since travelers often purchase an outfit or two (or a t-shirt or two) in addition to what they've packed, you've got shops -- souvenir and regular shops.

Or it did.

Do we grasp how much money Chump's running off?

In 2023, international travelers poured an estimated $213 billion -- billion -- into the US economy.  That amounted to approximately $584 million a day.

And now Chump's making us pariah around the world.  See, sending people to a gulag in El Salvador doesn't really argue for freedom and democracy.  And since Chump declares these deportations and imprisonments require no trials, if you're in Paris, you really think Las Vegas or whatever is worth seeing when, while you're visiting the US, you might accidentally get caught up in one of Chump's dragnets and end up being taken not back to France but a to prison -- one where the are no rules or guidelines and people are tortured.

He's destroying this country and he needs to stand trial at the ICC for what he's done with regards to El Salvador alone.  You're not legally allowed to knowingly put people into human abuse situations -- and your further guilty when you're paying El Salvador to take these people.  He needs to stand in the International Criminal Court and maybe he become the first former US president to do so after he leaves office in January 2029.

For now, he just ruins our economy.  Tom Sykes (DAILY BEAST) reports:

Big-spending European tourists appear to be turning their backs on the United States as a a tourism destination, with new figures showing a sharp drop in transatlantic travel. According to the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA), overseas visits to the U.S. fell 12% overall in March compared to the same month last year. Western Europe -- traditionally a key source of tourists -- was down 7%, but that modest figure masks some dramatic declines in specific countries. U.K. visitors, the single largest tourist group to the U.S., were down 14%. Ireland, another crucial market, saw a staggering 27% drop. Denmark fell a whopping 34% -- possibly a response to Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should annex Greenland, a Danish territory. German visitors plummeted 28%, as Elon Musk -- reportedly close to the former president—faced accusations of promoting far-right parties there. Spain and Norway both saw a 25% decline, and Swiss tourists dropped by 26%.


Where's the Chamber of Commerce lodging their public objections as Chump destroys the economy and destroys business big and small?  


THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RULHE (MSNBC) last night featured a strong discussion of our economy and corruption.






Donald Trump’s return to power is not just another act in the familiar drama of American politics. It is a direct assault on the very framework of American constitutionalism. This isn’t about pushing legal boundaries or stretching precedent. It is about transforming legal defiance into public performance. Trump is not merely ignoring the law – he is staging a spectacle of impunity. Every ignored subpoena, every violated gag order, every delayed trial becomes a demonstration of dominance. The message is clear: the law will not touch me, because I have turned it into theater.
And like all good theater, it draws an audience. What should be a straightforward exercise of legal accountability has become a recurring ritual in which enforcement mechanisms are twisted into symbols of persecution. Each indictment becomes a campaign prop. Each judicial rebuke is recast as political martyrdom. Institutions built to constrain are instead conscripted into a narrative of grievance. And because the machinery of justice moves slowly by design, Trump’s tactics – delay, diversion, denigration – are proving effective. He doesn’t need to win in court. He just needs to run out the clock.

This is Charybdis: a legal system whirling in futility while deadlines lapse and consequences evaporate. Justice doesn’t just fail here – it becomes farce. Trump has figured out how to convert the slow grind of due process into a tool of mockery. Gag orders become proof of censorship. Trials are dismissed as witch hunts. The very idea of law is hollowed out and rebranded as tyranny. And the longer the system hesitates, the deeper the damage. Rule of law begins to resemble a punchline.
But Scylla waits on the other side. That’s the danger of overreaction – the temptation to stretch legal remedies into political revenge, to let fear drive institutions into excess. That’s what Trump is counting on. He dares prosecutors to push too hard, courts to act too aggressively, lawmakers to go too far. He wants the system to stumble into overreach, to justify his claim that it was never about justice to begin with. His strength lies in forcing the guardians of legality into a trap: act, and look like tyrants. Don’t act, and look like cowards.

This is the bind. The dangers are real, and the choices are terrible. Veer too far one way, and legitimacy crumbles. Veer too far the other, and law loses its teeth. That’s the tragic symmetry of the Scylla and Charybdis metaphor – not a choice between good and evil, but a high-wire act where the price of imbalance is catastrophe. Odysseus didn’t conquer the monsters. He outlasted them. And that, now, is the task before the republic: not conquest, but survival.

But survival demands clarity. It demands the ability to see what’s actually happening. This isn’t a cultural squabble. It’s not the latest round in some never-ending partisan brawl. It is a stress test of whether constitutional limits still mean anything. Because what we are witnessing is not the ordinary friction of democratic politics. It’s the steady conversion of the presidency into a stage for personal power – where law is not enforced but inverted, not respected but turned into a weapon against itself.

We’ve seen this before, just not here. From Orbán to Erdoğan to Putin, we’ve watched elected leaders keep the outward forms of democracy – elections, courts, legislatures – while draining them of substance. The systems look intact, but their spirit is gone. Power is centralized, opposition is marginalized, and the rule of law becomes rule by law. Trumpism is not some American anomaly – it is part of a broader global drift toward strongman politics cloaked in democratic rituals.


He does need to be impeached.  What he did to the economy is not something a leader does.  And he did it intentionally.  He ignored every economic expert.  Mataeo Smith (MIRROR) notes:


Some fund managers are doubting the logic of President Donald Trump's actions as his back-and-forth on trade policies causes havoc in the financial markets.

“In the last few days, we have had many conversations with macro fund managers,” Tom Lee, the head of research at the financial analysis firm FSInsights, wrote on Wednesday morning, before Trump backed down from most of his tariffs on U.S. trading partners.
“And their concern is that the White House is not acting rationally, but rather on ideology. And some even fear that this may not even be ideology,” he added. “A few have quietly wondered if the President might be insane.”


They think he's insane because this is insanity.  

And he's garbage trash which is why he doesn't golf at Augusta (they don't want him there).  He's garbage trash who embarrasses himself and the country.  Yesterday, he said this: "CNN over here doesn’t want to put them out because they don’t like putting out good numbers. They only like putting it out because I think they hate our country, actually."


Someone in the White House should have pulled him aside and said STFU.  


With the economy, he's done enough damage this month.  We don't need to see anymore crazy from our Breasty Donald Chump.  



CNN anchor Dana Bash cut in as President Donald Trump was still speaking in the Oval Office to offer a refutation to Trump’s claim the network “hates our country.”

Trump met with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office for a photo op on Monday, during which Trump repeatedly and viciously attacked CNN, including various incendiary and groundless claims about the network’s beliefs.

He began by refusing to take a question from CNN anchor and senior White House correspondent  Kaitlan Collins, then said “they hate our country” and want criminals and murderers to roam free.

Eventually, Collins was able to grill Trump in a heated exchange during which Trump insulted her and called the personnel at her network “sick people.”

With about 6 minutes still to go in the photo op, CNN cut away from Trump during Monday’s edition of Inside Politics, and Bash addressed Trump’s barrage before quickly changing the subject:

DANA BASH: Okay we have been listening to a lengthy live press conference inside the Oval Office with the leader of El Salvador, Bukele where we have heard a lot of bits of information, a lot of news nuggets that we want to definitely focus on, a lot of some misinformation as well.

But we want to digest all of this right now with our terrific panel here and our reporters, Jeff Zeleny. I want to start with you. You are at the White House.

Before I get to you, I just want to say for the record, since we heard President Trump say in the Oval Office that CNN hates our country–.

CNN does not hate our country. That should go without saying. I’ve been here for 32 years and I see a rhetorical device. in him trying to say such a thing.



The person who hates our country is Donald Chump and that's why he can't stop attacking the Constitution.  That includes his targeting of free speech and that includes his use of deportation.  BBC NEWS notes:

 
An organiser of pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University has been arrested by immigration officials as he attended an interview as part of his application for US citizenship, his lawyer says.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a green card holder who is due to graduate next month from the New York City college, was detained on Monday in Colchester, Vermont.

His lawyer said Mr Mahdawi was taken into custody "in direct retaliation" for his role in campus demonstrations against the Israel-Gaza war.

Others who took part in campus protests against the war, including Columbia University's Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University's Rumeysa Ozturk, have been detained.



Mahmoud Khalil.  Some are asking in e-mails if I've been ignoring him for the last two weeks.  Yes, I have ignored here on purpose.  His wife, Noor Abdalla, is doing a wonderful job advocating for him, she's got polish and experience and she's a wonderful spokesperson.

That's the good news and not why I've avoided the topic.

His attorneys are idiots -- and that includes the new ones brought on.  And I'm tired of arguing with two of them.  

The most important thing right now is to get him out of prison.  

And it's not that hard.  If you make that the focus, it's not that hard.  

His wife is pregnant and due to deliver their child at any moment.  That's one issue you raise to the court.  You raise the issue that the government's charged him with issues of paperwork, how he filled out an application.  You get him out.

That is the most important thing.

Yes, it's important because he needs to be there for the birth of his child and to support his wife through the birth.  

But he needs to be out because it makes any arguments you make afterwards on his behalf all the more powerful.

Getting him out should be the main priority.  

Then pick up issues of whatever Constitutional principals you want.

But get him out and it makes any case you make all the stronger.

I'm tired of arguing with them.  I'm tired of their refusal to learn and synergize.

The reason my mind is picked by various friends about their cases is because I have a pretty good memory and know a lot of case law but it's mainly because I synthesize.  I pull from this legal are and that legal area and come up with what can work.  

They're trying to make this about the Constitution and only that.  Any defense attorney will tell you that getting your client out from behind bars is an immediate gain for any argument you're going to make regarding innocence.  

But they don't want to deal with reality and they don't want to incorporate lessons learned in other areas of the law.

So there's really nothing I can do at this point with regards to that issue.  I wish I could but Im honestly tired from arguing with his attorneys. 

They don't want to listen.  Point out that he might appear before a judge shortly and that you want him in something -- clothes -- other than a prison uniform.  Point that out and it flies over their head and they don't understand.  The focus needs to be on getting him out.  Once he's out, you have have his released behavior that you can also argue before the court that makes a stronger case for him.

Again, my time is limited and you can't help when attorneys are focused on everything but helping the client.

Chump wants to move towards deporting us all.  

Yesterday, at the White House, he met with human rights abuser and dictator of El Salvador Nayib Bukele.  Both men are prepared to send more deportees to gulags and torture chambers in El Salvador.  That's where Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia remains despite the courts ordering Chump to return Garcia to this country. 


This issue -- and Chump's publicly stated desire to deport US citizens to El Salvador -- on MSNBC's THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW.



Right now Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia is not coming back.

And we're talking about that but not talking about the why.

"Because Chump's ignoring  court ruling!"

No.

That's not why.

That's a response but it's not why.  His ignoring the Supreme Court is a response.  But it's not the why.


Why he's not coming back is because Chump doesn't want him talking -- not about how a non-gang member and a non-criminal got thrown out of this country by mistake.  Garcia is a face on Chump's very bad policy and Chump doesn't want that.

Chump also doesn't want Garcia back here because he doesn't want the truth getting out.

Right now, the people Chump places in that prison are really not represented or heard by the American people.

Garcia gets brought back and Garcia immediately talks about the torture he experienced.

He talks about that torture and forces a lot of Americans to reckon with the effects of Donald's illegal actions and the very real damage being done and how we are currently ruled by an international criminal.

That's what's going on.  That's the why.

Even an idiot like Lindsey Graham might have to break with Chump in the face of that reality.  

Garcia's best hope is people talking about his case and getting the word out and forcing Chump to defend his actions when they can't be defended.  Lawsuits also need to be brought against the dictator of El Salvador who stated at the White House yesterday that he had no plans to release Garcia.  

But we need to be making Garcia's case and pointing out that he's being tortured.  

That's what Chump's trying to hide and that's what reveals him as a crook not fit to be president.  American presidents are not supposed to participate in torture, they're not supposed to send innocent people overseas to be tortured.  



Let's wind down with this from Senator Patty Murray's office:

New reporting shows the Trump administration is considering proposing to eliminate Head Start altogether—a key goal of Project 2025

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), responded to new reporting that President Trump is considering proposing to zero out funding for Head Start in his forthcoming budget request—a goal proposed in Project 2025, which would cut off essential services and early childhood educational opportunities for hundreds of thousands of families nationwide.

“While families feel the crunch with a worsening child care crisis and much higher daily costs thanks to Trump’s tariffs, President Trump wants to eliminate Head Start and kick hundreds of thousands of kids out of the classroom, fire teachers, and make child care and early learning more expensive and less safe.

“This administration believes we cannot afford to help families get preschool or help kids get basic health services, but we can afford trillions of dollars more in tax breaks for billionaires. It’s offensive and just plain wrong, and let me be clear: Democrats won’t let a proposal like this go anywhere in Congress. But that doesn’t mean Head Start and so many other programs aren’t under grave threat—because Trump has proven he’ll ignore our laws and do whatever he can to break these programs on his own. Trump has already tried illegally blocking funding for Head Start earlier this year, and programs across the country continued having problems accessing their funding long after his administration promised everything was fine. He has already fired the very people who keep Head Start running with no plan in place to ensure hundreds of thousands of families will keep getting the care they count on, so it’s on every one of us to keep speaking out and opposing this administration’s anti-family, pro-billionaire agenda.”

Head Start currently serves over 750,000 kids nationwide, and the program has served nearly 40 million children and their families nationwide since its inception in 1965. There are over 17,000 Head Start centers nationwide that help kids and families thrive, and these centers are particularly important in serving rural communities with fewer options for care.

Since taking office, President Trump has gutted the offices that keep Head Start centers and child care programs across the country running. In late February, the Trump administration fired scores of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Head Start and Office of Child Care. Earlier this month, Trump continued to hollow out HHS, including by shuttering half of the regional offices at the Office of Head Start, which are responsible for ensuring high-quality Head Start services are available to families nationwide. The Trump administration has failed to articulate how it will ensure that uninterrupted services are available to families and that appropriate oversight will be carried out despite gutting the very offices charged with these responsibilities.

###



New content at THIRD:


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Monday, April 14, 2025

Nicky Katt

Nicky Katt has died.  TMZ says he hanged himself.  My mouth dropped when I saw the headline this morning.  DAZED AND CONFUSED was a very good movie.  The real stars were Parker Posey, Joey Lauren Adams and Nicky Katt.  How the goober looking Matthew McCona-f**k ended up a hero to fans of the film can only be explained by different times and sexism.  He's a creep in the film and was in real time as he hung around high school trying to find underage girls.  

Nicky Katt had real charisma even as the bully talking about kicking ass and lollipops and he was all out of lollipops. I watched BOSTON PUBLIC just for him. 

Apparently, he felt like he was at the end of his rope.  

He couldn't make rent.  

You know, go online, say so.  I would've donated to him.  And I'm not a generous person.  But Nicky Katt was a great actor and he was so powerful in every role   He'd pop up anywhere and just draw you in -- like when he was on an episode of FRIENDS bullying Ross and Chandler.   UPI notes:


The South Dakota native appeared in dozens of films and TV shows from the time he was a child.

Among his credits include Fantasy Island, CHIPS, The Facts of Life, Uncle Buck, Sin City, Boiler Room, School of Rock, A Time to Kill, Batman & Robin, The Way of the Gun, Monk and Casual.

"You could always count on Nicky Katt for many things. He'd come in incredibly prepared for a role with costumes and props," filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who worked with Katt on Planet Terror, wrote on X Sunday.

"He'd come full of inventive and creative ideas that would make his characters pop off the screen and consistently have an audience howling. He'd deliver lines that would constantly sound as unexpected as an ad lib, yet it was the text," Rodriguez added. "And if he did adlib, it was always gold. Even his physical comedy and timing was truly on another level. Nicky was an absolute joy on and off the camera. A true artist. A friend. It's very sad to lose Nicky Katt. But I can only be grateful I got to know him, work with him, and watch him create his own truly original brand of magic that will live forever in his favorite medium."


Looking at the coverage, I see that Stephen Battaglio of THE LOS ANGELES TIMES wins I'm-so-stupid-I-don't-even-know-how-to-GOOGLE for writing this sentence:


For Katz, it led to steady work that included playing Bond villain Billy Ray Cobb in “A Time to Kill,” a cutthroat stockbroker in “Boiler Room,” a hitman in Soderbergh’s “The Limey” and a theater actor who portrays Adolf Hitler in the director’s 2002 film “Full Frontal.” He also appeared in "Batman & Robin" and "The Dark Knight."


Playing a Bond villain?  No.  Nicky was never in a James Bond film.  A TIME TO KILL, starring Sandra Bullock, Samuel L Jackson and Matthew McConf**k was a film adaptation of a John Grisham's novel A TIME TO KILL.

Stepho, you're an idiot and a fool and we're all laughing. 

 

I can't believe Nicky Katt is dead.  And I think about the film HEATHERS.



God, how could you take such a hottie?  Nicky was talented in the extreme, but, damn, he was hot.

By the way, my latest music review "Kat's Korner: Lenny Kravitz let's it ride on a new classic" went up Sunday.

Closing with C.I.'s "The Snapshot:" 

 

Monday, 4/14/25.  Chump wrecks the market, Tulsi Gabbard lies and it may be to avoid paying a state income tax, Bill Maher's been disgusting for years and finally people are starting to notice, let's look back at the Oval Office moment when Alien Musk racked up a big score playing bumper pool with his child's head, and much more.


Let's start with Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence.  And this is going to be a very conversation opening because I don't feel good and am throwing up.


She's been caught in a possible lie -- another.  David Packman noted it on his show.



That went up here on Saturday.  A word on that, my YOUTUBE feed is junk.  If it shows someone I'm subscribed to, it's showing a video from two weeks ago. I'm going to try using Rebecca's YOUTUBE because it's not messed up like mine.  I posed David's video above here on Saturday.  I almost added a note to it because it's missing a point.  I did not feel good Saturday or Sunday (or today) so I hoped someone would cover it.


Tulsi has declared her homestead is in Texas.  She voted in Hawaii.  David points out that she's in violation of her VA loan and why.  And he points out that she should have voted in Texas and why.  If she did vote in Hawaii, she violated their laws.


The thing I want to know, that would clarify this whole thing, is she paying state income tax?


She voted in Hawaii after claiming on TV and elsewhere that she was living in Texas.  


She voted in Hawaii's election.  Will she be paying state taxes?


The reason people scum like her move to Texas is there's no state income tax.  That's the only reason trash like Tulsi goes to Texas. (Well closeted male actors go there to try to hide their gay love affairs from their fans -- but, shh, no bongo talk this morning.)  She has no connection to the state or its history.


So she damn well better be paying state income tax in Hawaii this year because she used Hawaii's state resources -- that residents of Hawaii pay taxes for -- to vote in that state instead of her own self-proclaimed state of Texas.  


What is looks like is that she's not just a liar and someone determined to avoid paying taxes but a sponge who uses the resources that others pay taxes for. 


Her actions appear illegal.  But, again, she used the resources of Hawaii for her 2024 vote.  That means she damn well better pay Hawaii's state income tax for 2024.


She's a cheat and a grifter and she's as fake as Convicted Felon Donald Chump.  On the fat man, JD Wolf (MEIDASTOUCH NEWS) reports:

At one of his Florida golf clubs, Trump was presented with a large wooden carving commemorating the 2024 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pennsylvania. The artwork, unveiled during a private moment caught on video, had been draped in an American flag before being revealed.

As Trump looked on, the man presenting the carving pulled the flag from the sculpture and wadded it up in his hands and later casually placed it on a nearby chair. Trump engaged the man in discussion about the artwork—about hanging in the White House and listening to details about its creation—but made no comment on the handling of the flag.

The use of the American flag in this way violates the U.S. Flag Code, which prohibits using the flag as drapery, and demands proper handling and storage of it. The video quickly drew attention online, with many pointing out the irony: Trump and his allies have long portrayed themselves as staunch defenders of patriotic symbols, frequently criticizing opponents for perceived disrespect toward the flag.


He has never been fit to be president.  And his cult has no patriotism which is why they tried to carry out an insurrection and overthrow the government.  The flag matters about as much to them as Jesus matters to the Christian Nationalist movement -- which is to say not at all.  Ava and I covered that detail in our piece for THIRD.  If other stuff is ready, it'll go up this evening or tonight.  If it's not, we're posting our piece all by itself again.


I've known Jane Fonda for years and have a lot of love for her -- we defend her, Ava and I, in our new piece.  But I stand by my remarks here that she should not have gone on Bill Maher's show.  The left never should have promoted that show or done anything to advance Bill Maher who is a disgusting and hateful man.  We've said that here for decades.  Maybe others can start to catch up with that reality?







Let's be clear that women haven't spend the last years applauding Bill.  Let's be clear that LGBTQ+ people haven't.  Nor have Muslims.  If you claim to be on the left -- lie Socialists Zac and Gavin of THE VANGUARD -- and you promoted Bill Maher, it's time for you to do some public reflection and address the very real hatred of others that you have and the need to giggle at attacks on the marginalized.  You really need to address that before you try to lead everyone astray yet again.

Grasp that Ben Affleck rightly called Maher out in 2014 for his Islamophobia but idiot court jesters like Zac and Gavin have spent the last ten years promoting him.  They need to get honest about what they did and the very real damage that they were part of.


Meanwhile, Paolo Confino (FORTUNE) reports:


Since President Donald Trump announced his sweeping tariff policy over a week ago and sent global markets into turmoil, the U.S. stock market has lost trillions in wealth. All the major indices such as the S&P 500, the Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average are down for the year after markets reacted extremely negatively to Trump’s new trade policy. 

The major selloff induced by the new Trump policy reversed what was shaping up to be another good year in the markets. Investors and analysts had expected the U.S. stock market to continue to deliver solid returns, even if it did slow down from the record-setting pace of the previous two years. In fact, Trump’s election brought a new wave of market optimism, as initially stocks soared on the back of what many had viewed as a pro-business president. 

Now the opposite is true. Markets are sinking on the back of the uncertainty Trump injected into the U.S. economy since he returned to the White House. 

To make up for the losses they’ve incurred so far this year, the major U.S. stock indices—the S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow—would all have to rally to an extent that isn’t unheard of, but has only ever happened in good years. 

However, a strong year in 2025 seems unlikely. Since the market crash caused by Trump’s tariff announcements, most major Wall Street banks have revised their annual forecasts for the economy to reflect the ongoing downturn. Some of those banks even called for a recession as the stock market slide coincided with cratering bond markets and a devaluing of the U.S. dollar. 

Through Friday, the S&P 500 is down 8.8% year-to-date—a stark reversal from the rip-roaring gains of 2023 and 2024 that together accounted for the best two-year stretch since 1998. 


Are you grasping how much damage Chump has done to the US economy?  For that matter, to the global economy?


Friday night on THE 11TH HOUR WITH STEPHANIE RUHLE, Stephanie hosted a panel discussion on the economy that Chump's destroyed.



Rachel Barber (USA TODAY) reports, "President Donald Trump’s approval ratings on the economy and inflation have fallen after weeks of tariff policy twists and turmoil in the stock market, according to a new poll released Sunday. The CBS News survey of 2,410 Americans found 44% approved of Trump’s handling of the economy and 40% approved of his handling of inflation, both down 4% from March 30. The president's overall approval rating dropped to 47% this month, down from 50% in March and 53% in February." Tom Boggioni (RAW STORY) reports:


After only three months in office full of missteps, some political observers are admitting Donald Trump's second time in the Oval Office is going poorly with one Washington insider pointing out his tariff plan has turned into a "self-inflicted wound" that has damaged his prospects.

In an interview with the Guardian's David Smith, Larry Jacobs, director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance at the University of Minnesota, marveled at how badly things have gone for the re-elected president while admitting it may be too early to call what is going on now a "failed presidency."

He then added, "... but to me there are clear indications that Donald Trump’s presidency is endangered."


Chump was never that popular to begin with.  A majority of voters did not vote for him. He did not receive 50% of the votes.  He squeaked by.  And he did so on lies.  As he exposes himself every day, Americans turn away. Lucy Strathmore (2 PARAGRAPHS) notes, "Political activist Zachary Shrewsbury, executive director of the West Virginia nonprofit organization Bluejay Rising, reported Thursday on X: 'Trumpism is cracking in West Virginia. People aren't loyal they're desperate. I see it daily in all my organizing. This state isn't lost. With real focus and a movement rooted in labor and dignity, we can take it back'."  At THE DAILY BEAST, Paul Waldman writes:


On Wall Street and in C-suites across the country, titans of American industry and capital are aghast. How could President Donald Trump plunge us into ruinous trade wars amid yo-yoing tariffs and send markets into chaos ahead of a widely speculated recession? They gave him their support and their donations, and this is how he repays them? 

The better question is: How were they so naïve as to think this wouldn’t happen?

It’s hard not to take some satisfaction in the sudden distress of the plutocrats.

“This is not what we voted for,” tweeted billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. “What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term, economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war?”

You don’t say. 


Yes, the honeymoon is over, as Glenn C. Altschuler notes at THE HILL:


In a poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal, 52 percent of respondents disapproved of his handling of the economy — usually his strong suit — up 12 points since October 2024. Even before “Liberation Day” and the huge stock market plunge, only 42 percent gave his tariff policies a thumbs up. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 36 percent of Americans think the administration and so-called Department of Government Efficiency are doing a competent job in reducing the number of federal employees.

Trump’s honeymoon, such as it was, is over. And critics of his policies have become more aroused, active, visible and vocal.

In February, videos of town hall meetings in conservative congressional districts in Wisconsin and Georgia dominated by angry protestors went viral. When the phenomenon began to spread, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) — who knows that similar “revolts” in 2009 and 2017 were followed by a powerful backlash against the party in power in the ensuing midterm elections — told his colleagues to stop scheduling such meetings: “Why would we give them a forum to do that right now?”

Those who went ahead anyway had a hard time reassuring their constituents. Questioned about DOGE’s firing of military veterans, Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) replied, “No pain, no gain.” Rep. Steve Womack (R-Wyo.) told federal workers who lost their jobs, “Just be patient.”


Let's turn to Musk and at the request of many we're just copying and pasting from Saturday's post.


Mike's picked Alien Musk as "Idiot of the Week."  And it's not been a good week for Musk.    Yasmeeta Oon (DMR NEWS) notes, "Tesla’s stock has dropped a staggering 22% in the last four trading sessions, continuing its 45% loss for the year. This downturn has erased over $585 billion in value from the company, severely affecting Musk’s financial standing."  Robert Crow (THE COOL DOWN) adds, "Teslarati has reported that New York City's comptroller, Brad Lander, is asking the municipality to sue Tesla based on Musk's activities within the Department of Government Efficiency.  In a release, Lander asserted that Musk's work with the administration has taken the CEO away from his duties with Tesla. The company's stock has plummeted since Musk joined DOGE, causing 'losses over $300 million for the New York City pension systems,' Lander said in the release."   Naomi LaChance (ROLLING STONE) reports:


Elon Musk, who owns one of the world's biggest social media platforms, has spent many millions of dollars on politics as he helps Donald Trump slash the federal government and continue the administration's attack on immigrants. Now, Musk is saying that he is losing the "propaganda war," potentially through his own choices.

Recent polling shows people don't like Musk. On Friday, numbers pundit Nate Silver posted on X that Musk's popularity is at negative 14 points. Trump, for comparison, is at negative 5 points. The chart shows that Musk's popularity markedly decreased when Trump took office, with 39.6 percent of respondents viewing him favorably as of this month.


He's a racist and people are learning that.  He's not 'an' American.  He's a citizen of South Africa.  He was born there. He's  citizen of Canada (though some are reviewing that status) via his mother.  He applied for US citizenship after fleeing South Africa when White racism crumbled as apartheid collapsed.  Per his brother, he broke visa rules in the US which would mean his US citizenship was fraudulent and should be revoked.  


Despite not knowing anything about US history or the Constitution, he and his bro-incest partner -- brocest as Ann calls it -- Donald Chump set out to destroy America and the people in it. The American people are suffering and that's why they hate Musk and his pig jowls  Diego Pérez Morales (MIBOLSILLOCOLUMBIA) reports:


The recent announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has sent shockwaves through the healthcare sector. Under the leadership of Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an ambitious plan to restructure the department is underway, potentially resulting in the loss of up to 10,000 jobs. This move is part of a broader strategy to overhaul the functioning of key agencies responsible for tracking health trends, conducting medical research, and ensuring the safety of food and drugs. The implications of such a massive layoff are profound, raising concerns about the future of public health services in the United States.

That's only one of many examples of the mass firings.  Americans are losing their jobs and they hate Musk.


They also hate him because he's a disgusting parent.  That's obvious by (a) the treatment of his daughter and his attack on her and other trans people, (b) his 'spreading his seed' and (c) that ridiculous and appalling Oval Office moment where, when his young son wasn't on his shoulders, he was pressed against Musk's crotch.  That was really disgusting and it's amazing that people wanted to look the other way.




I waited for others to comment.  None did.  I thought, well, it's just me that finds that shocking and that's because I was raped as a child in elementary school (by the man who kidnapped me).  But this week, I started asking other people about that moment.  It's not normal.  There's nothing normal about Alien Musk.  And  a grown man should have pushed the kid away from his crotch.  But somehow it just seemed normal to Musk.  Wonder why that is?  


I don't live in a world where it's normal for a child's head to rub against it's father crotch over and over.  I don't live in a world where a father wouldn't stop the kid from doing that.  That's not me blaming the child.  The behavior I witness in that video seems taught and modeled.  So I don't blame the child.


I do blame the adult parent who clearly has boundary issues.  And I do blame the occupant of that office who invited Musk in and just sat there while Musk all but humped his own child.


A lot of you e-mailed that seeing the video in that context made you wonder how it took place without comment in real time.  I agree.  I had two friends call who are child therapists and state they saw some of the video in real time and didn't even pick up on it -- again, they're child therapists.

Let's wind down with this from Senator Mark Kelly's office:


April 11, 2025

“It is unconscionable that as American families are concerned about their financial security during this economic crisis entirely manufactured by the President, insiders may have actively profited from the market volatility and potentially perpetrated financial fraud on the American public.”

Today, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) sent a letter to the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Paul Atkins, to determine whether President Trump, any members of his cabinet, or other donors, insiders, and administration officials engaged in insider trading, market manipulation, or other securities laws violations.  

“We urge the SEC to investigate whether the tariff announcements, which caused the market crash and subsequent partial recovery, enriched administration insiders and friends at the expense of the American public and whether any insiders, including the President’s family, had prior knowledge of the tariff pause that they abused to make stock trades ahead of the President’s announcement,” called the senators.  

The senators wrote: “Before pausing the tariffs that threw markets into disarray, President Trump appears to have previewed his plans to do so on Truth Social: at 9:37 am, he announced, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT.” His official announcement of the tariff pause came roughly 4 hours later at 1:18 pm.” 

The senators also asked how Trump administration cuts to the SEC might impact the agency’s ability to respond to large-scale market events and pursue enforcement actions. They requested answers to their questions by April 25, 2025. 

Banning insider stock trading has been a priority for Kelly since he became a senator. In 2023, he introduced the Ban Congressional Stock Trading Act to require all members of Congress, their spouses, and dependent children to place their stocks into a blind trust or divest the holding—ensuring they cannot use inside information to influence their stock trades and make a profit. 

Click here to read the full letter. 


Kat's "Kat's Korner: Lenny Kravitz let's it ride on a new classic" went up Sunday. 


The following sites updated:


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