alexanderboulton

People are Saying . . .

The Battle of the Wives:  It started when an anti-Trump Political Action Committee ran a nude picture of The Donald’s wife, the former model, Melania Trump.  The photo from 2000 shows her in Trump’s 747 jet, handcuffed to a brief case, wearing diamonds and furs that strategically cover some of her formidable assets.  Trump responded enigmatically claiming that he would “spill the beans” on Cruz’s wife, Heidi Cruz, a former investment manager at Goldman-Sachs and then re-tweeted side-by-side photos of his wife next to an unflattering picture of Ted Cruz’s wife.  Cruz, angrily called Trump a “sniveling coward” for his attacks on his wife.

Modern Politics 101:  How to start an ugly rumor to discredit an opposing candidate.  Sounds easy right?  The problem is that responsible news media will not report on slanderous, unsubstantiated rumors.  So here is the plan:  (First) write something on the internet about your opponent’s sex life.  The more outrageous the better.  (Second) Then get a supporter to reference it on CNN, forcing (Three) your opponent to deny the story.  (Voila) It is now News, and fair game for all commentators and news organizations to report on it.  It is an old technique.  This is what Donald Trump did last week in (surreptitiously) spreading the story that Ted Cruz has had numerous sexual affairs outside of his marriage.  The story is a complete lie.  Or, is it?

In the real world:  Four days after the police raid that netted Salah Abdeslam, one of the ISIS terrorists accused in the murder of 130 people in Paris, suicide bombers killed thirty-five people and injured over three hundred in Brussels, Belgium.  Police are looking for an accomplice, “the man in the hat” seen on closed circuit TV at one of the bombing sites.  Belgian police have been criticized for inability to “connect the dots” that could have revealed terrorist plots, failure to interrogate Abdeslam for hours after his capture, and for miss-identifying a Belgian journalist as one of the terrorists.  Time to call in Inspector Clousseau.

In a public park in Lahore, Pakistan, seventy one people, mostly women and children, were killed and 341 others injured in suicide attacks on Easter day.  Less noted terrorist attacks have occurred recently in Turkey, the Ivory Coast, and Yemen.

The United States and Cuba almost went to war in 1962 bringing the world the closest it has ever come to a nuclear conflict that would have led to the deaths of millions and forever changed human history.  Although the U.S. still has an economic boycott of the island nation, President Obama’s visit to the country last weekend, following a concert by the Rolling Stones, seemed to bury ‘the last remnant of the Cold War.”

In other news: Republicans are still blocking hearings on the nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court; Bernie has the momentum, but Hillary has the math (i.e. the greater number of delegates to win the Democratic nomination); and the oceans are still rising.

People Are Saying. . .

President Donald Trump?  It could happen.  He is now way ahead of his rivals, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich, for the Republican nomination.  Party leaders’ desperate plans to stop Trump at the Convention in July seem doomed, and Trump predicts (promises?) that his supporters will riot if he is denied the nomination.  Some Republicans are preparing for a third party challenge, but there is little time for organizing one.

The New York Daily News headline, “Donald Trump is Hitler” captured the sentiment of many people even in his own party.  According to Conan Obrien’s interview with Der Fuhrer, Hitler hates being compared to the Donald [Check it out on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DcrmnRijTQ%5D.  The two do share some things in common, including violence at political rallies, a “pledge” that looks like a Nazi salute, megalomaniac paranoia, and fear-mongering.  Trump has been called the most divisive person in America.  This is not really true.  He has brought Democrats, rational Republicans, and late night comedians together with something to agree on.

On the other side of the universe:  Bernie Sanders for a short time looked like he had a chance to win the Democratic nomination after his big win in Michigan a week ago, but losses to Hillary last Tuesday in five primary states make it unlikely he will catch up to Hillary in the fight for delegates.  Nevertheless, his bright spotlight on social inequality will have a big influence shaping the election this November.

March Madness prediction:  The University of Connecticut Huskies will win the NCAA title this year.  Breanna Stewart has led the Huskies basketball team to a 69-game winning streak.  She has led the women’s field with a total (so far) of 2,554 points in her college career.  On the men’s side the winner this year will not be the Northern Iowa Panthers who blew a 12 point lead with forty four seconds in the game against the Texas A&M Aggies.  The greatest collapse in the history of the NCAA tournament.  And it will not be Michigan State (#2) who lost in the first round to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (#15).  It just goes to show, anything can happen, and it usually does.

Terrorists attacked Paris on November 13, last year.  On that day, Salah Abdeslam, (according to sources) drove a black Volkswagen Polo to a rock concert in Paris where the Eagles of Death Metal were in the middle of their set.  Three men got out of the car and entered the theater shooting AKM assault rifles into the crowd of 1500 people.  When police arrived the men detonated suicide vests.  Eighty-nine people were killed.  Two other teams of terrorists shot machine guns into crowds of people who were enjoying the unusually warm weather that night at outdoor restaurants, killing a total of one hundred and thirty people.  After a massive manhunt, Salah Abdeslam, after a gun battle in which he was shot in the leg, was captured Friday by Police in Belgium.

If Republicans in the Senate have their say (and they probably will), Merrick Garland is not going to be a Supreme Court Justice anytime soon.  The Republicans continue to do what they have pledged themselves to do for the last seven years – – block any thing that President Obama proposes.  I have a two-year old nephew whose answer to every question is “no.”  But he will grow up some day.

What is the scariest thing that threatens the future of humanity?  Is it Isis, the terrorist organization that has taken over large areas in the Middle East?  Is it Kim Jong-Un of North Korea, who threatens to launch a nuclear attack on New York City?  Is it the Chinese military buildup on the island they are creating in the South China Sea?  Is it global warming?  Or is it the F on your midterm grade in English?

A five dollar gift certificate to the SU bookstore will be given to the first SU student who responds either positively or negatively to anything printed here.  If it seems appropriate, his/her remarks will be included in a subsequent posting.  Respond to aboulton@stevenson.edu

People Are Saying. . .

And then there were three.  The victory of Donald Trump in the Florida primary on Tuesday forced Marco Rubio to end his campaign for the Presidency.  The Republican field of seventeen candidates at the beginning of the year is now down to just three: Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich.  Kasich, who won in his home state of Ohio primary is now the last hope of “the Establishment.”  Some predict that top Republicans are already planning for a third party.

On the Democratic side, After Tuesday’s big wins for Hillarly, there is less and less chance that Bernie will catch up to Hillary in the delegate count for the nomination.  But it looks like it will be a long drawn out fight.

Donald Trump is Hitler?  The New York Daily News thinks so.  Their headline left off the question mark.  According to Conan Obrien’s interview with Der Fuhrer, Hitler hates being compared to the Donald [Check it out on Youtube].  The two do share some things in common, including violence at political rallies, a “pledge” that looks like a Nazi salute, megalomaniac paranoia, and fear-mongering.  Trump has been called the most divisive person in America.  This is not really true.  He has brought Democrats and rational Republicans together with something to agree on.

March Madness prediction:  The University of Connecticut Huskies will win the NCAA title this year.  Breanna Stewart has led the Huskies basketball team to a 69 game winning streak.  She has led the women’s field with a total (so far) of 2,554 points in her college career.  On the men’s side the winner this year will probably be either the Kansas Jayhawks, Oregon Ducks, Virginia Cavaliers, or the North Carolina Tarheels.  But this year has had a lot of upsets so far, and anything could happen.

What is the scariest thing that threatens the future of humanity?  Is it Isis, the terrorist organization that has taken over large areas in the Middle East?  Is it Kim Jong-Un of North Korea, who threatens to launch a nuclear attack on New York City?  Is it the Chinese military buildup on the island they are creating in the South China Sea?  Is it global warming?  Or is it the F on your midterm grade in English?

People Are Saying

Donald Trump is Hitler?  The New York Daily News thinks so.  Their headline left off the question mark.  According to Conan Obrien’s interview with Der Fuhrer, Hitler hates being compared to the Donald [Check it out on Youtube].  The two do share some things in common, including violence at political rallies, a “pledge” that looks like a Nazi salute, megalomaniac paranoia, and fear-mongering.  Trump has been called the most divisive person in America.  This is not really true.  He has brought Democrats and rational Republicans together with something to agree on.

People are Saying . . .

Nancy Reagan, beloved wife of former President Ronald Reagan, died on Sunday at the age of 94.  A star in Hollywood in the 1940s, she married Ronald Reagan in 1952.  She was a strong behind-the-scenes influence on President Reagan.  She encouraged her husband to form a personal relationship with the Russian leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, and her disagreement with Reagan’s Chief of Staff, Donald Regan, led to his being sacked.  “Just say no” was her advice on the use of illicit drugs.

American voters will be glad to know that Donald Trump has a big salami (other news sources are not so discrete).  In the last debate, Marco Rubio apparently criticized the size of Donald Trump’s hands.  Trump responded, “He referred to my hands, if they’re small, something else must be small.  I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee you.”  You can’t make this stuff up.

And then there were four. . . .  Baltimore surgeon, Ben Carson has ended his campaign for the Presidency, leaving only Trump, Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich.   It is now increasingly difficult for anyone other than Trump to win the 1237 delegates necessary to win the nomination.  Although Ted Cruz had a strong showing over the weekend, it looks like the Republicans’ last hope to stop Trump might be in a brokered convention.  If Trump fails to win the nomination at the Convention in Cleveland in July, there will be an awful lot of angry and unhappy people who voted for Trump who will feel like the “establishment” has stolen the nomination from them.  What will they do?  What will party leaders do?  Is the Republican Party about to drive over a cliff?

The case of the missing murder weapon:  What happened to the knife used in the murder of O.J. Simpson’s wife and her boyfriend in 1994?  One possibility: a construction worker found it while he was demolishing OJ’s house in 1998, and gave it to a policeman, who had it framed and hung on the wall of his home.  Police are now analyzing it to see if it really might be the murder weapon.  Skeptics think it is part of a P.R. stunt to drive up viewers of the TV mini-series on the Simpson murders on the FX network.

Supreme Court Justice, Anthony Kennedy will decide this spring if you, your girlfriend, mother or sister can get an abortion.  The evenly-split Court must decide on a Texas law that requires that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles, and that their clinics must meet requirements of “ambulatory surgical centers.”  Supporters of the law say that these restrictions are necessary to protect the health of women.  Opponents say the law is designed to limit abortions, and by making it more difficult to get an abortion puts women’s health in danger.  Texas had 44 clinics which provided abortions when the law was passed in 2013.  It has half that number now, and if Kennedy decides to uphold the Texas law, will have only six.  Does the Court’s blocking of a similar law in Louisiana last week indicate how they will vote on the Texas law?

The French philosopher Denis Diderot published his Encyclopedie during the Enlightenment.

Bad news:  The Zika virus is worse than originally thought, causing birth defects including microcephaly, miscarriages, and early infant deaths.  One of the possible consequences of global warming, it is transmitted by mosquitoes and by sexual contact.  It is spreading rapidly throughout the Americas.

Good news:  The American economy continues to improve after the “Great Recession” of 2008.  The worst unemployment rate was 10%, and is now 5%.  Over 12 million jobs have been created over the past five years.  Home values have increased.  The poverty rate has decreased. The rise in health care costs has slowed, and over ten million more people now have health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Bad news:  many of the new jobs pay less than the older jobs that were lost, and the benefits of the improving economy have not been evenly distributed.

“People are Talking…” welcomes comments.  What do you think?  (Respond to aboulton@stevenson.edu)

People are saying . . .

American voters will be glad to know that Donald Trump has a big salami (other news sources are not so discrete).  In the last debate, Marco Rubio apparently criticized the size of Donald Trump’s hands.  Trump responded, “He referred to my hands, if they’re small, something else must be small.  I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee you.”  You can’t make this stuff up.

And then there were four. . . .  Baltimore surgeon, Ben Carson has ended his campaign for the Presidency, leaving only Trump, Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich.   It is now increasingly difficult for anyone other than Trump to win the 1237 delegates necessary to win the nomination.  Although Ted Cruz had a strong showing over the weekend, it looks like the Republicans’ last hope to stop Trump might be in a brokered convention.  If Trump fails to win the nomination at the Convention in Cleveland in July, there will be an awful lot of angry and unhappy people who voted for Trump who will feel like the “establishment” has stolen the nomination from them.  What will they do?  What will party leaders do?  Is the Republican Party about to drive over a cliff?

The case of the missing murder weapon:  What happened to the knife used in the murder of O.J. Simpson’s wife and her boyfriend in 1994?  One possibility: a construction worker found it while he was demolishing OJ’s house in 1998, and gave it to a policeman, who had it framed and hung on the wall of his home.  Police are now analyzing it to see if it really might be the murder weapon.  Skeptics think it is part of a P.R. stunt to drive up viewers of the TV mini-series on the Simpson murders on the FX network.

Supreme Court Justice, Anthony Kennedy will decide this spring if you, your girlfriend, mother or sister can get an abortion.  The evenly-split Court must decide on a Texas law that requires that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles, and that their clinics must meet requirements of “ambulatory surgical centers.”  Supporters of the law say that these restrictions are necessary to protect the health of women.  Opponents say the law is designed to limit abortions, and by making it more difficult to get an abortion puts women’s health in danger.  Texas had 44 clinics which provided abortions when the law was passed in 2013.  It has half that number now, and if Kennedy decides to uphold the Texas law, will have only six.  Does the Court’s blocking of a similar law in Louisiana last week indicate how they will vote on the Texas law?

The French philosopher Denis Diderot published his Encyclopedie during the Enlightenment.

Bad news:  The Zika virus is worse than originally thought, causing birth defects including microcephaly, miscarriages, and early infant deaths.  One of the possible consequences of global warming, it is transmitted by mosquitoes and by sexual contact.  It is spreading rapidly throughout the Americas.

Good news:  The American economy continues to improve after the “Great Recession” of 2008.  The worst unemployment rate was 10%, and is now 5%.  Over 12 million jobs have been created over the past five years.  Home values have increased.  The poverty rate has decreased. The rise in health care costs has slowed, and over ten million more people now have health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Bad news:  many of the new jobs pay less than the older jobs that were lost, and the benefits of the improving economy have not been evenly distributed.

“People are Talking…” welcomes comments.  What do you think?  (Respond to aboulton@stevenson.edu)

People are saying . . .

American voters will be glad to know that Donald Trump has a big salami (other news sources are not so discrete).  In the last debate, Marco Rubio apparently criticized the size of Donald Trump’s hands.  Trump responded, “He referred to my hands, if they’re small, something else must be small.  I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee you.”  You can’t make this stuff up.

And then there were four. . . .  Baltimore surgeon, Ben Carson has ended his campaign for the Presidency, leaving only Trump, Rubio, Cruz, and Kasich.   It is now virtually impossible for anyone other than Trump to win the 1237 delegates necessary to win the nomination.  The only way that the Republicans can stop Trump now seems to be in a contested convention.  If Trump looses at the Convention in Cleveland in July, there will be an awful lot of angry and unhappy people who voted for Trump, and who will feel like the “establishment” has stolen the nomination.   This is why serious people are afraid that the Republican Party is on the verge of its own destruction.

The case of the missing murder weapon:  What happened to the knife used in the murder of O.J. Simpson’s wife and her boyfriend in 1994?  One possibility: a construction worker found it while he was demolishing OJ’s house in 1998, and gave it to a policeman, who had it framed and hung on the wall of his home.  Police are now analyzing it to see if it really might be the murder weapon.  Skeptics think it is part of a P.R. stunt to drive up viewers of the TV mini-series on the murders on the FX network.

Supreme Court Justice, Anthony Kennedy will decide this spring if you, your girlfriend, mother or sister can get an abortion.  The evenly-split Court must decide on a Texas law that requires that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles, and that their clinics must meet requirements of “ambulatory surgical centers.”  Supporters of the law say that these restrictions are necessary to protect the health of women.  Opponents say the law is designed to limit abortions and by making it more difficult to get an abortion puts women’s health in danger.  Texas had 44 clinics which provided abortions when the law was passed in 2013.  It has half that number now, and if Kennedy decides to uphold the Texas law, will have only six.

The French philosopher Denis Diderot published his Encyclopedie during the Enlightenment.

Bad news:  The Zika virus is worse than originally thought, causing birth defects including microcephaly, miscarriages, and early infant deaths.  One of the possible consequences of global warming, it is transmitted by mosquitoes and by sexual contact.  It is spreading rapidly throughout the Americas.

Good news:  The American economy continues to improve after the “Great Recession” of 2008.  The worst unemployment rate was 10%, and is now 5%.  Over 12 million jobs have been created over the past five years.  Home values have increased.  The rise in health care costs has slowed.  The poverty rate has decreased.  Over ten million people now have health insurance due to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

Bad news:  many of the new jobs pay less than the older jobs that were lost, and the benefits of the improving economy have not been evenly distributed.

People are Saying . . .

Mad Max, Fury Road won the most Oscars at the Academy Awards ceremony.  The movie Spotlight, and actors Leonardo Di Caprio and Brie Larson, also won awards at the ceremony which was notable for its lack of black nominees.

Can Trump be stopped?  Donald Trump’s big wins on Super Tuesday puts him very close to winning the Republican nomination for President.  The only way that he might be stopped now seems to be in a brokered convention.  In other words, if no candidate has a majority of 2472 delegates at the convention in Cleveland, Ohio, in July, then the delegates could chose virtually anyone to be the nominee (is Paul Ryan paying attention?).  If neither Rubio, Cruz, Kasich, nor Carson drops out before the connvention, it could happen.

The Republican party “establishment” is desperate to stop the vulgar and abrasive Trump who has alienated almost every major voting block – – African Americans, Hispanics, and women.  The last Republican debate before Super Tuesday was one of the lowest points American political rhetoric.  The candidates shouted over each other.  Trump called Cruz a “liar” and Rubio a “choke artist.”  Rubio called Trump a “con artist.”   Rubio said Trump needed a full-length mirror “maybe to make sure his pants weren’t wet.”  The Reps seem to be taking their cue from Moe, Larry, and Curly.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton is ahead of Bernie Sanders after her wins on Super Tuesday and in the South Carolina primary last  week.  Her strength is among older African American women who have strong memories of her standing by the side of the “First Black President of the United States” – – her husband, Bill Clinton.  Bernie Sanders, on the other hand,    has excited many Millennials who want a political revolution ending the power of the super-wealthy in government.

The race for the Presidency is getting interestinger and interestinger.

According to my informed sources, Ted Cruz is NOT the Zodiac killer.  Nevertheless you can buy a t-shirt saying he is the Zodiac killer ($15, proceeds go Texas abortion clinics), and you can buy a book with the title Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer, a Time-Travel Romance on Amazon (for 2.99, Kindle format).  Cruz, so far, has not denied the allegation.

Peace in Syria?    A partial truce in the fighting started on Saturday after negotiations between U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry and Russia.  The United States has apparently given up on removing the brutal dictator, Bashar al-Assad from power, in an attempt to stop ISIS, and stem the migration crisis in eastern Europe.

Another hopeful sign: In Iran, moderate politicians have won almost all of the thirty seats in the Iranian Parliament, defeating their hard-line, anti-West opponents in their first election since the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal was signed.

People are saying . . .   Did you read To Kill a Mockingbird in High School?  The creator of Atticus, Scout, Boo Radley and Tom Robinson died last Friday at age 89.  Many fans of the author, Harper Lee, were incensed last year when her publisher, HarperCollins (owned by media mogul, Rupert Murdoch) published an early version of the book, Go Set a Watchman, in which Atticus Finch was a racist.

Obama pledges to nominate a Supreme Court Justice to replace Justice Scalia, who died last week.  Republicans have pledged to block the nomination, hoping that a Republican will be elected President in November and that he would nominate a conservative to the court.

The latest conspiracy theory:  Leonard Nimoy, Mr Spock in Startrek, is not dead.  He faked his death, and is now the head of the Illuminati.  Nimoy is responsible for the murder of Scalia who would have been the decisive Supreme Court vote blocking President Obama’s attempt to cancel the 2016 election after Hillary is indicted for sending classified information on her personal e-mail server as Secretary of State.

Back on planet earth:  Hillary won the Democratic Nevada caucus, and The Donald won the Republican South Carolina primary on Saturday.  Republicans are now facing the possibility that Trump could actually win the nomination.  It now looks like a three-way race, with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz splitting the anti-Donald vote.  Jeb Bush, who was once declared the “front-runner,” has now dropped out of the race.  Kasich and Carson are way behind.  Despite Hillary’s win, she is way behind Bernie in the race for $$$.

Should the FBI compel Apple to create a “backdoor” that would allow the Justice Department to override the encryption on the iPhone?  The FBI wants to know who the San Bernadino shooters talked to on their iPhone in the days before they killed 14 people at a holiday party.  Apple says the new software would become commonly available and compromise all internet security.

The Donald versus the Pope:  A cornerstone of Donald Trump’s campaign is his promise to build a “huge” wall to prevent migrants from entering the U.S.  Pope Francis recently said “a person who thinks only about building walls – wherever they may be – and not building bridges, is not a Christian.”  Trump replied that “For a religious leader to question a person’s faith is disgraceful.”

Pope Francis is the most activist leader of the Roman Catholic Church in over a hundred years.  He is a strong advocate for the poor, criticizing “the cult of money.”  He supports a state for Palestine, and advocates addressing the issue of climate change.  He has initiated a debate on the Catholic doctrine on divorce, and has criticized church leaders for being “obsessed” with issues of abortion, homosexuality, and contraception.

Recently Pope Francis suggested that birth control might be the lesser of two evils in confronting the spread of the Zika virus that causes microcephaly (small heads) in new born infants.

Nobody has died from a hoverboard fire yet, but they have caused over two million $$$ in property damage, destroyed two houses and an automobile.  If you have one, you should also have a fire extinguisher.

People are saying . . .

And the winner is. . .   Taylor Swift who won for her Album of the Year, 1989, at the Grammys Monday night, which featured outstanding performances by Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, and Adele.

The death of conservative icon, Supreme Court Justice, Antonin Scalia sets up a battle between Dems and Reps over his successor.  At stake in the outcome are women’s rights to abortions, big bizness’s ability to spend unlimited amounts of $$$ on political campaigns, and individuals’ rights to arm bears (or is it the other way around?).

Is Ted Cruz a liar?  Is Donald Trump nuts?  Is Jeb! a looser?  These are just some of the things Reps are saying about each other.  Meanwhile Bernie and Hillary are courting African American voters who make up a large part of the Dem’s base.

A Warp in the Space-Time Continuum?  It’s real.  Long a staple of science fiction, scientists have detected gravitational waves from the collision of two black holes over a billion years ago.  Dr. Spock was right.  If you could time travel, where/when would you go?

Just saying. . .  This crazy weather is not normal.  It is an effect of global climate change, which scientists tells us is caused by human activity.  Don’t let anyone tell you different.