Tuesday Clutter: Trump, 2020 Census, Facebook, Tech Anti-Trust Investigations, iTunes, Boston Bruins, Lion King, Jeopardy!, John Mellencamp, and more
06/04/2019
Hi everyone,
Welcome back! Come on in, have a seat. How are you? The week is off to a decent start so far on this end. The sun is shining, and that always helps. Moving a little slowly right now because this NHL Stanley Cup Finals thing is fun, but it keeps me up past my bedtime, and a guy needs his rest. The good news is that BDH and Little Buddha went on a shopping run yesterday and bought more coffee. They just made a fresh pot, so grab yourself a nice medium DD, and let's clear out some Tuesday Clutter.
Donald Trump called on the Senate to pass the $19.1 billion disaster aid package that was just approved by the House. The only problem is that the Senate already did that two weeks ago. As Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) points out, Trump seems confused. It's apparently asking too much of the White House occupant to have the slightest idea what's going on in Congress. To be fair, the Great Pumpkin has more important things to do like insult Meghan Markle and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
A former Trump business partner accused the Trump Organization of tax evasion in Panama in a lawsuit regarding the former Trump Hotel in that country. Anyone doubt for a second that's true?
The Urban Institute projects that the 2020 census could under-count this country's African-American and Latinix populations by up to four million people. Given how many funding and political decisions are made based on census results, that would likely have far-reaching negative impacts on these groups for the next decade. It's no coincidence that whites are the only group expected to be over-counted in this process.
On a related note, the House Oversight Committee is preparing to vote to hold Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt for not complying with a subpoena for documents regarding a proposed citizenship question on the census form. The White House has made it clear they have no intention of allowing Congress to fulfill its oversight responsibilities, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi continues to mutter about needing more investigations before moving forward with an impeachment hearing.
Facebook investors made it clear at last week's annual meeting that they want someone new in charge of the company, but Mark Zuckerberg's voting power made sure that wouldn't happen. However, there's no denying the fact that a proposal to install a new chairman got 67% of the votes (not including Zuckerberg.)
Facebook's shareholders want new leadership. (pic via motherjones.com)
In other news Zuckerberg won't like: The House Judiciary Committee is planning to launch an extensive anti-trust investigation of the tech industry that includes, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Google. Someone should ask Google about this disturbing story regarding how the YouTube algorithm seems to be helping pedophiles. The Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission are apparently also hammering out the details of a separate look at Google.
Apple confirmed yesterday that iTunes is being broken up into three different apps. It appears that preexisting music libraries will still be accessible, which was our main concern. Since that's been addressed, we're interested to see how much easier the new Apple Music app is to use, because iTunes was "challenging" to navigate. We'll also have to take a look at the new Apple TV and Podcast apps as well.
The Boston Bruins lost 4-2 to the St. Louis Blues in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night, so now the series is tied at two games apiece. As much as we're pulling for the Bruins to win, this was the first time in franchise history that the Blues won a Stanley Cup Final game at home, so good for them. Our big question is about the status of Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara, who left the game late in the second period after taking a puck to the jaw and never returned to the game. We'll see how Boston handles that when the series moves back to Boston for Game 5 on Thursday. Hopefully that's enough rest time for the big guy to get back on the ice.
Let the record show that we agree with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on one thing: There's no need for four preseason games. However, that doesn't mean we need to extend the regular season either.
There's a new Lion King trailer, and this one is the first chance to hear Beyonce speak, so we're expecting it to get a gajillion hits today:
James Holzhauer finally lost on Jeopardy! last night after a 32-game winning streak that earned him $2.46 million. That leaves him short of Ken Jennings for both consecutive wins and earnings, but he did a good job of bringing the show some buzz over the last month.
General Hospital fans will enjoy this brief interview with Ingo Rademacher (Jax) and Cynthia Watros (new Nina) as they discuss their current stints on the soap opera. It might be surprising to hear what brought about Rademacher's return to Port Charles.
Okay kids, that's going to do it for now. Let's have John Mellencamp close things out (with some terrific supporting work from drummer Kenny Arnoff) with, "Lonely Ol' Night," for today's, "Song of the Day."
Thanks for stopping by, everyone. It was great to see you, as always. Enjoy the rest of your day, be good, and we'll catch up with you again for more fun soon. Until next time, that's today's Clearing out the Clutter, and we are outta here.
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