ProudMary

^^^THIS! Here's what I've been thinking about: Do you remember early in the first Trump administration, there was a young Black soldier who was killed in Niger? After many days had passed, the Commander on Chief finally deigned to make a condolence call to his young widow, who was pregnant with their child at the time of her heroic husband's death. To this grieving woman, Trump said, "Well, I guess he knew what he was getting into." Every single one of these Republican electeds took an oath to uphold the Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic, just as that young man did. So, I say, "I guess you knew what you were getting into." Be brave and do your sworn duty! (Here's a 2017 link to the story of Trump's disrespect to the widow of Army Sgt. Johnson.) https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-told-la-david-johnson-widow-that-he-knew-what-he-was-getting-into-congresswoman-says/

Music geek here. FJ wasn't quite an instaget for me, but I did get there quickly. I've always loved '60s R&B, so last year when I learned of the MAX docu-series Stax: Soulsville U.S.A., I was excited to watch it. (It's still streaming on MAX, for anyone who's interested and it's very good.) I did know that Stax was based in Memphis, but watching the doc certainly refreshed my memory. Memphis led me to the assassination of Dr. King and I saw the photos from the motel balcony in my mind and was able to recall its name. I was not aware that the motel is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum, so thanks Jeopardy! I've been reading about the museum, which is centered around the Lorraine Motel, but also includes other buildings in Memphis that are relevant to the Civil Rights Movement. https://civilrightsmuseum.org/ (Said music geek is also a museum geek. 🤓)

Airdate: Thursday, April 17, 2025 Synopsis:

Beginning May 1, 2025 https://maydaymovementusa.org/ There's more at the website, including a link to get involved. I'm just quoting some snippets here.

Sneak Peek. Here's the first five minutes of Episode 6.

As to Newsom, I had been a fan, but he's officially on my shit list now. Gavin Newsom's podcasts with Trump loyalists anger Democrats amid 2028 presidential speculation https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/gavin-newsoms-podcasts-with-trump-loyalists-anger-democrats-amid-2028-presidential-speculation/3821441/?os=httpwww.nbcchicago.comu0026refapp Quote from above article: "As a wounded Democratic Party struggles to regroup, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is holding mostly chummy conversations with prominent conservatives on a new podcast he’s touting as a way for the party to grapple with the MAGA movement’s popularity. In doing so, he appears intent on showing he is more than a progressive warrior. But he has stunned some members of his own party by agreeing with his guests on issues such as restricting transgender women and girls in sports. Newsom called dismantling police departments “lunacy” and remained silent when Steve Bannon, an architect of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, falsely said Trump won the 2020 presidential election." And as for GWB, I sure as hell questioned his loyalty in the days immediately following 9/11, when he facilitated flights out of the US for membrrs of the Bin Laden family, while US airspace was completely shut down! Bin Laden Family Evacuated https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bin-laden-family-evacuated/ From Bush's actions regarding Osama Bin Laden's family to the Trump/Kushner/Mnuchin multi-billion dollar payoffs from Mohammed bin Salman, especially following the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, both Republican presidents' cuddling up to the Saudis has always put their loyalties in question.

Speaking of protest songs, the one that's keeping me going is Hozier's anthem from 2018, "Nina Cried Power." He's joined in the vocals by the legendary Mavis Staples, who's certainly no stranger to using music as a message; and accompanying them on organ is the equally legendary Booker T. Jones. There are callbacks to the great musical activists of prior generstions, including the great Miss Nina Simone, for whom the song is named. The music's great, but the lyrics! The lyrics are everything right now. "It's not forgoing of the lie It's not the opening of eyes It's not the waking, it's the rising" As I watch the numbers grow at the Tesla Takedowns and at the 50501 protests (more this weekend), as I see tens of thousands rallying to see Bernie or AOC in Utah, in Idaho; in my head I keep hearing "It's not the waking, it's the rising."

Is this the first year that the "42" on each player's jersey is Dodger Blue? I don't recall that on past Jackie Robinson Days, but I love that touch!

For those who may have missed last night's webinar with Prof. Heather Cox Richardson and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, the replay is now available on YouTube. It's 56 minutes long.

1970s-style MSM no longer matters. W&B wouldn't reach the necessary audience now. My question is, "Where is our Howard Baker?" Republican Senators who had the courage to stand up to power and defend the Constitution no longer exist. 😥

MIT's following Harvard's lead. (See screenshot below.) Sure. DOGE is just looking for fraud and waste. 😏 I'm quoting several paragraphs here, but there's even more at the NPR link. A whistleblower's disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5355896/doge-nlrb-elon-musk-spacex-security

I am starting to believe that the Cause of Death on my Death Certificate will read, "Devin Williams." Great all-around game. The best for me were the multiple great plays in LF by Jasson Dominguez. We know this kid is going to be a monster at the plate, but his defense in left had been worrisome. It looks like he's getting it all together. 🙂 The HRs by Grisham, Rice, Jazz and Wells were fun, but that ninth inning was (again!) stressful. I sure hope that changes.

This is a few days old. It is not being widely reported and the numbers are relatively small, but this is NOT an unimportant story. Hundreds of Students at Military Base Schools Walk Out to Protest Trump Administration’s Anti-Diversity Policies https://www.military.com/daily-news/2025/04/10/were-going-fight-what-we-believe-military-kids-protest-diversity-crackdown-base-schools-worldwide.html?ref=cawshinythings.com

Speaking of Florida universities, this seems very Gestapo-esque. Multiple Florida universities look to deputize campus police to expand immigration enforcement https://nypost.com/2025/04/13/us-news/multiple-florida-universities-look-to-deputize-campus-police-to-expand-immigration-enforcement/

Well, here's a photo of DJT standing next to JD Vance on Inauguration Day. They're both standing up quite straight and JD appears to be slightly taller than DJT. Vance is confirmed to be 6'2". (The article below is funny.) So, Trump is probably 6'0" or 6'1". Hey Google: How Tall Is J.D. Vance? https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/how-tall-is-j-d-vance-google.html

Yes it's the same policy. Here is the link from Federal News Network, which carries a time stamp of 7:24 a.m. on April 11th. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/agency-oversight/2025/04/ssa-shifts-to-x-posts-for-official-messaging-after-cuts-to-communications-staff/?readmore=1 Here is a screenshot of the Twitter link from Social Security's X account a couple of days ago. Its time stamp is 7:45 p.m. on April 11th, so 12 hours after Federal News Network reported the story that Wired broke. Edited to add, the tweet from Social Security's X account saying the story is false is still up on Twitter. https://x.com/SocialSecurity/status/1910841666870653128

Thank you for the NYT gift link on that story. As info, the headline on that article has now been amended to: Gov. Shapiro and Family Evacuated After Arson at Pennsylvania Residence "The governor said the State Police banged on the door early on Sunday to wake him and his family after an arsonist set fire to the governor’s official residence in Harrisburg." If you haven't read the story yet, @PRgal's link is still good; it's just the headline that's been updated to confirm that it was arson. 😡

I finally got around to watching this episode late Saturday night, and that extra clip that they showed at 3:50 of the "tension" encountered by the judges between Massimo and Paula absolutely makes me hope he's the next one PYKAGd. The misogyny! What a DB. He can't get off my screen fast enough now.

With regard to Fetterman: "When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time." (All credit to Maya Angelou.) The 2022 Democratic Senate primary had Fetterman running against the moderate, vanilla, then-sitting Rep. Conor Lamb, whose Congressional district was in mostly red western PA; and progressive firebrand, (in the best sense of the word) then-State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, an out gay black man. Fetterman won the primary with 58.6% of the vote, despite the fact that this 2013 incident involving Fetterman holding an unarmed black man at gunpoint was well publicized in the run-up to the primary. Fetterman's past gun incident rattles Black Democrats in Pa. Senate race The incident took center stage in the race last week when John Fetterman’s two Democratic opponents excoriated him over his actions in 2013 and for his refusal to apologize. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/fettermans-gun-incident-rattles-black-democrats-pa-senate-race-rcna25649 Pennsylvanians knew who they were voting for. This is just my opinion, but I'd say it was a feature, not a bug. I think Fetterman might very well win again even if he were primaried from the left. I sure hope I'm wrong. Just as a closer, Conor Lamb is now working for big law 😴, but Malcolm Kenyatta is now a Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. 👏❤️ BTW, I'm not a Pennsylvanian, just an interested, informed observer.

Last week's episode, which centered on Connor, was my favorite episode of the season, by far. I'm not alone either, as iMDB shows that episode with the highest rating all season at 8.2/10. No other episode scored even an 8. These writers better wake up. No one is a fan of the perpetual in-fighting that we're seeing week after week. We tune in to laugh, and watching fictional family members argue with each other constantly isn't funny.

Oh yeah, DJT's been going after almost all the Ivies, including his own alma mater! (Penn) Trump suspends $175 million in funding to University of Pennsylvania over trans athletes https://www.npr.org/2025/03/20/nx-s1-5333675/university-pennsylvania-upenn-trump-suspends-funding-trans-student-athletes Brown University to see half a billion in federal funding halted by Trump administration https://apnews.com/article/brown-university-grant-funding-antisemitism-2b7fcd9ee708e1fb3cd0beac65ad56a5 Trump task force to review Harvard’s funding after Columbia bows to federal demands https://apnews.com/article/harvard-investigation-antisemitism-trump-2ee1a2a9df6d09d155dac7a4e39b186c Trump admin cuts funding to Princeton University over climate programs https://www.axios.com/2025/04/08/princeton-university-funding-cuts-climate-programs

I saw the same clip. (Thank you, Seth Meyers. 🙂) Cringe-worthy. These people truly have no shame, to be able to prostrate themselves in submission to this cretin, just to maintain a relatively small amount of power. Surprisingly, DJT looked bored by it all. His body language screamed, "How much longer do I have to sit and listen to this?" He wasn't even acknowledging their praise, but that's most likely a symptom of his dive into more serious levels of dementia.

It doesn't bother me because I watch Last Chance Kitchen each week, but these rankings do include info on the chef who was eliminated in this week's LCK. This chart probably belongs in the spoiler thread or at least put a spoiler warning in your text. As to the rankings themselves, I think they're pretty spot on, except I would move Vinny down to sixth place and move Bailey up to fifth. I'm not pleased to say that because, for me, she'll always have Sarah G. stink on her, but anyone who watched her in LCK can see that she's re-entered the competition as a much stronger cheftestant.

You don't have to keep score. There's a Wikipedia page for each of the seasons of Top Chef that has a great chart for that. I've put the link to this season's page below. If you scroll down to the "Contestant Progress" section, you'll see the chart. It keeps track for both the Quickfire and Elimination challenges. Small *spoiler alert*: The first paragraph on this TC Wiki page does name all five locations where the Canada season was filmed, so if you don’t want to be spoiled about where this group will be heading over the next seversl weeks, scroll down fast and don't look at paragraph #1! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Chef:_Destination_Canada

The official Social Security account on X is now saying that the Wired reporting is not true So, did SSA regional commissioner Linda Kerr-Davis retract the statement made? Was there an immediate negative reaction that made them change their position? WTF is happening here?