The presidential election and the next SCOTUS

At a recent fund-raiser that featured a number of Hollywood A-listers, President Biden made a chilling observation that it is likely the next president will have the opportunity to fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court, which I’m sure focussed many minds on what that would mean if Trump wins.

On the up-side, Biden did note that if he is able to hold on for a second term and

if, in fact, we’re able to change some of the justices when they retire and put in really progressive judges like we’ve always had, tell me that won’t change your life when Trump justices are already gutting voting rights, overturning Roe, decimating affirmative action, and so much more.

NPR, June 16, 2024

Gulp.

Posted in The Supreme Court | Tagged , | Comments Off on The presidential election and the next SCOTUS

The New York Post sucks

What’s the most interesting take-away from news that the New York Post intentionally cropped a picture of President Biden at the G7 summit in Italy to make it look like he had wandered off like a doddering old man unaware of his surroundings? Is it that a supposedly reputable newspaper, albeit an anti-Biden rag, did something that would be so easily found out, or is it that they knew it would be found out and didn’t care because it was worth the day or two that people would be talking about their favourite topic – Joe Biden’s age.

Posted in Media | Tagged , | Comments Off on The New York Post sucks

New Biden ad blasting Trump’s previous comments about veterans

President Biden’s campaign recently dropped an ad that highlights Trumps previous comments about veterans during the week that commemorates the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing in Normandy. It is still stunning to many that Trump has largely gotten away with saying the things he has said about those who have served.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments Off on New Biden ad blasting Trump’s previous comments about veterans

Elections New (U.S.)

Menendezes and rematches: Takeaways from Tuesday’s primaries (Roll Call)

The $64 million mystery: How a wave of anonymous donations is fueling the 2024 presidential campaign (CBS News)

RNC hires a prominent ‘Stop the Steal’ advocate to help craft its 2024 platform (NBC News)

Trump leads Biden by 5 points in North Carolina survey (The Hill)

Shock poll? New Fox News survey has Trump over Biden by just 4 points in Florida (Florida Phoenix)

Posted in Election News (U.S.) | Comments Off on Elections New (U.S.)

Better than expected job growth in the U.S. – will it matter?

We were told to expect job growth figures to be around 190,000 in the month of May, but found instead that the U.S. economy added far more than that – this according to a new report from the Bureau of Labour Statistics. Non-farm payroll grew by 272,000 for the month of May, after growing by 165,000 in April. Notably, wage growth continued to outpace inflation, and though the unemployment rate grew by a bit to 4 per cent from 3.9 percent, that’s still a pretty manageable number.

As Steve Benen points out:

…[W]hat matters most about today’s report is the surprisingly robust number of jobs that are still being created. I’m mindful of polls showing a discouraged public, but over 1.2 million jobs have been created so far this year, and if this pace keeps up, the United States will see roughly 3 million new jobs this year, which is extraordinary.

MSNBC

Though Trump and his crew will say what they will say, the facts are against them when it comes to crowing about how well their economy performed compared to Biden’s. To wit, over the first three years of Trump’s presidency, the economy created 6.38 million jobs. Since January 2021, under Biden’s leadership, job growth has more than doubled the combined total of what happened under Trump’s first three year.

Much has been made of the fact that inflation and sticker shock over the cost of essentials has kept voters grumpy, but at some point the facts must start having an impact. The question is, will it be soon enough?

Posted in The economy | Tagged , | Comments Off on Better than expected job growth in the U.S. – will it matter?

Elections News (Canada)

Nenshi apologizes for mistakes he made as Calgary mayor at Alberta NDP debate (Western Standard)

Some Liberals think Mark Carney could succeed Justin Trudeau. We talked to those who think he’d be a great leader — and others who roll their eyes (Toronto Star)

PC win in Baie Verte-Green Bay shows voters are ‘angry provincially,’ political scientist says (CBC News)

BC NDP maintains double-digit lead ahead of expected campaign; Rustad & Falcon lack appeal, trust on top issues (Angus Reid Institute)

Given Doug Ford’s record on housing, does he really want an early election? (TVO)

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Elections News (Canada)

Trump claims he never called for Hillary Clinton to be locked up

On “Fox & Friends Weekend,” Trump was asked about the chant “Lock Her Up” frequently heard during the 2016 campaign with regard to his opponent Hillary Clinton and the issue with her emails. His response was this:

“I didn’t say ‘lock her up,’ but the people said lock her up, lock her up,” Trump said. “Then, we won. And I say — and I said pretty openly, I said, all right, come on, just relax, let’s go, we’ve got to make our country great.”

Washington Post, June 2, 2024

In fact, as the Washington Post notes, there were several instances in which he approved of the sentiment made by others at rally’s and other public events. In one case he said “every time I mention her, everyone screams, ‘Lock her up, lock her up,.” He then said to the crowd, “You know what, I’m starting to agree with you.”

Another time, in a Tweet he wrote: “Hillary Clinton should have been prosecuted and should be in jail. Instead she is running for president in what looks like a rigged election.”

Perhaps he actually had his team look for an instance when he actually said those precise words, and found none. But his intentions were clear. As a nowconvicted felon, he is attempting to argue that it’s a bad thing to lock up one’s political opponents and that he would presumably never consider such a thing.

The sad truth is that he lies so often, no one expects him to speak the truth and we all quickly move on. How bizarre.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Trump claims he never called for Hillary Clinton to be locked up

Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that one in 10 Republicans less likely to vote for Trump due to guilty verdict.

According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted shortly after former President Trump’s guilty verdict on all counts was handed down, one in ten Republican registered voters say that they are less likely to vote for him due to the results of the trial.

No surprisingly, a significant group, 35 per cent, said it made them more likely to vote for him, and 56 per cent said it would have no impact on their decision, none of which means very much. What is important is that one in ten registered Republicans are now considering moving away from the former president.

There will be polls to consider the impact of the guilty verdict, but if this become a trend it could be problem for the GOP.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Reuters/Ipsos poll finds that one in 10 Republicans less likely to vote for Trump due to guilty verdict.

Voters hate Trump’s chaos…

…and they need to be reminded how much.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Voters hate Trump’s chaos…

“Sir John”- Blue Mitchell (1959)

Richard Allen “Blue” Mitchell was on the planet from 1930 to 1979. He was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpet player. If I can still count, he had 27 albums as a leader, and a bunch more as a sideman. He recorded for Riverside, Blue Note and Mainstream Records.

Big 6 appears to be his first album as a leader, released April 2, 1959 in the hard bop category. Personnel, in addition to Mitchell, are: Curtis Fuller (trombone); Johnny Griffin (tenor saxophone); Wynton Kelly (piano); Wilbur Ware (bass); and Philly Joe Jones (drums).

The AllMusic biography says this, which may explain why I had never heard of him.

Owner of a direct, lightly swinging, somewhat plain-wrapped tone that fit right in with the Blue Note label’s hard bop ethos of the 1960s, Blue Mitchell tends to be overlooked today perhaps because he never really stood out vividly from the crowd, despite his undeniable talent.

Another reason he may be less well known as a jazz trumpeter is that he played, as noted above, in a number of styles.

Probably aware that opportunities for playing straight-ahead jazz were dwindling, Mitchell became a prolific pop and soul session man in the late ’60s, and he toured with Ray Charles from 1969 to 1971 and blues/rock guitarist John Mayall in 1971-1973. Having settled in Los Angeles, he also played big-band dates with Louie Bellson, Bill Holman, and Bill Berry; made a number of funk and pop/jazz LPs in the late ’70s; served as principal soloist for Tony Bennett and Lena Horne.

This is a tune written by Mitchell on the Big 6 album called “Sir John.” Good player.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on “Sir John”- Blue Mitchell (1959)