Friday Stuff

Yeah, I would say Number 44 "crushed it" here too - didn't he once give a speech where he said there was no "red" America or "blue" America?...



…and like it or not, it is indeed time once more for “This Day In Doomsy History” from the actual exact day, which would be 3/11/09 – K.O. brings us another episode of “Factor Fiction” with Billo and Bernard ("Fired From CBS For Lying About A Story") Goldberg (timely in light of this and this)…

…and this story just thoroughly saddens me; great reporting by CBS News (update is here)…



…even though this has been known for a little while, as the New York Times reported here, including this excerpt…

“I look at companies like Starbucks — that’s the model,” (former CEO Steven) Nardizzi said. “You’re looking at companies that are getting it right, treating their employees right, delivering great services and great products, then are growing the brand to support all of that.”

If I hear one more of these CEO assh*les talk about providing a public service as if they were running a corporation, I’m going to vomit. Your goal is to provide the best possible care for our veterans, not make a cup of goddamn coffee!!

...and Robert Greenwald is back with another great new movie, as noted here (in light of yet another gun tragedy, as noted here)...



…and it looks like we have another new, unwanted growth industry in this country…



...and Thom Hartmann brings us economic and labor news for the week...



…and RIP Keith Emerson (featured at the very end, of course) – definitely not the way I wanted to end the week...



…though I think this is a better example of Emerson’s virtuosity, so here it is.



Update: Offered without further comment (ugh)...

Thursday Stuff

Once more, Sen. Elizabeth Warren stands tall on the Senate Repugs not doing their jobs on holding a hearing for an Obama Supreme Court nominee, among many other matters, here (of all of her great moments, this may be her finest, and bonus points for harking back to November 2000)...



...and Bernie Sanders tells Fix Noise that health care is a basic human right - pathetic that that needs to be said, but it does (NSFW)...



...and yes, this video makes some great points about some of our ridiculous foreign policy expenditures versus the relative pittance to feed those most in need in our country, and that's the real takeaway, but I think that bit about what we supposedly spend in Ukraine on democracy building was a bit of a cheap shot from "the Vlad Putin Network"...



...and I actually missed out on National Get Over It Day yesterday (no, really) - allow me to make amends with this tune (tough year for that band, by the way, also considering this).

Wednesday Stuff

I know I’m a little late with this great report from Chris Hayes on David Duke from last Friday, but it definitely bears repeating…



…and speaking of Duke’s candidate (whether “The Donald” admits it or not)…I’m sure he knows the “best words” all right; well, we know some too, such as WE’RE GOING TO DO EVERYTHING WE LEGALLY CAN TO MAKE SURE YOU NEVER BECOME PRESIDENT, YOU ASSCLOWN…



…and I never had the first clue about the problem we have in this country with “special districts” and their unbelievable lack of oversight, but kudos to John Oliver for telling us all about it (kids are cute at the end too)…



…and RIP Sir George Martin; I probably could have selected any one from a whole gamut of tunes from the Fab Four, but I always thought that this one was a particular technical marvel that was a testament to his utter genius as a producer.

Tuesday Stuff

Kudos to Rachel Maddow for some honest-to-goodness investigative journalism, this time on the utterly failed state of Michigan under the abysmally awful Rick Snyder...the next time you hear about how supposedly terrible those state workers are, remember the story about the veterans home – after watching this, I wonder how many other similar issues are going on with other states under the “governance” model of the “party of Lincoln” (trying to keep up a theme here for International Women's Day, by the way)…



…and if you want to argue that there could be an “enthusiasm gap” among Democrats, I guess you could unfortunately, but let’s not forget that this is the first presidential election since the High Court of Hangin’ Judge JR gutted the Voting Rights Act, and I think that is having an impact as well – of course, the data on all of this will come out by the merciful end of the election, which God willing will have the right result (we have to work to make that happen)…



...and nothing against Trevor Noah, but it's looking more and more like Samantha Bee should have gotten that job instead (here - NSFW)...



…and yesterday marked the birthday of the telephone, created by Alexander Graham Bell of course (he received a patent for it 140 years ago on March 7th, as noted here); here is a tune to commemorate this event.

Monday Stuff

For the occasion, I’ll overlook all the “Queen Nancy”/consult with the astrologer/Madame Defarge sans the knitting needles stuff and remember her instead as a tireless advocate for stem cell research, as noted in the video…



…and it looks like humor is intersecting with political reality again (here)…



…and Bill Maher reminds us, basically, that there’s no expiration date on that great poem on the Statue of Liberty from Emma Lazarus (here)…



…and happy 70th birthday to Matthew Fisher of Procal Harum.