Daily Archives: September 7, 2022

Remember when we had a healthy middle class and good-paying jobs with benefits? Company presidents made a very good living. Fast forward to today with huge corporations worth billions run by CEOs who make millions.

Remember Ronald Reagan and his trickle down theory? The Right still claims it works, but we know better. Republicans did away with unions, resulting in lower wages and fewer benefits. The Supreme Court in 2008 overturned key campaign finance rules and sided with a conservative advocacy group, Citizens United. For the first time, corporations had a First Amendment right to spend unlimited amounts of money on political races. Super PACs and front groups, like Citizens United, ran attack ads against candidates hostile to corporate interests. Those groups spent nearly $3 billion on attack ads in the 2020 electiona very good reason not to just depend on TV ads to determine who to vote for.

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Corporations and the super-rich have an enormous influence on our elected officials. They threaten to spend millions to oppose anyone who stands up to corporations, so nothing has gotten done on climate change and prescription drug costs until Democrats recently passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes both issues and more. Not one Republican voted for it.

Last year was a great year for the 0.0002 percent of Americans who are billionaires (724 ultra-elites). Elon Musks personal fortune rose to $340 billion in 2021 while people worldwide struggled to survive. Jeff Bezos net worth rose to $197 billion last year. This year, Bezos commissioned the worlds largest superyacht, costing half a billion dollars. However, its too tall to go under a bridge and he cant get it out of the Dutch port where it was built.

As a former resident of the wonderful town of Tekamah, I still read the Plaindealer as often as I can.

Recent letters to you have been interesting to say the least, and I would like to add a few options to what has been said, being mindful that I havent been able to read all of the opinions sent into you.

Ive seen several letters from Donnette Jackson and have read them with an open mind and have considered a lot of what she has said.

The thing that I find so crazy and anymore, its just typical of the Democratic/liberals, to accuse the Right side of the aisle of spreading lies and conspiracy theories, yet they can never just reply back with any factual information.

So here is my opinion on some of this.

Mrs. Jackson made a 150 percent true comparison of the current administration and the one under President Trump. Under Trump, inflation was the second lowest since World War II; under President Biden its the second highest in history, and thats consumer and wholesale inflation. Where is the lie and conspiracy theory in that?

When President Biden came to office we were energy independent and were, in fact, a net exporter of crude oil, now (at one time) we have had record gas and diesel prices, which effects absolutely everything. Wheres the lies and conspiracy theories in that? Its all true and we are all living proof of it.

Does the Left think this country runs on magical fairy dust? Apparently they do.

Supply chain issues, where does one even start on that one? The proof is in the shortages on our stores shelves and not just grocery stores, it affects everything including the cars we try to drive.

A stock market that keeps falling and making people lose money and my favorite subject is an absolutely horrible domestic policy that includes a wide open Southern border. By the time this poser in the Oval Office gets done, we will have over 6 million undocumented illegal immigrants in this country. I ask the Left side, how is that even a thing that you people support? What will you do when we have another terrorist attack on this country, who will you blame? Let me guess--Trump, yet he had record low immigration. Prove me wrong.

And another great one is his foreign policy. Isnt it great being on the precipice of the chances of major wars in the world? No one respects us under this current administration. Does anyone remember the last time a member of Congress visited Twain? China got all puffed up, but Bill Clinton had the courage to basically park two carrier battle groups in the area. What happened now? Biden said nothing, and we have watched China flex their muscles. Under President Trump, China was under control and North Korea stopped launching missiles; now they are getting ready for another underground nuclear test.

Russia threatens the use of nuclear weapons. I guarantee that would have never happened under Trump.

We had a politically incorrect President called Trump. He said things, and I believe he did it just to make the liberals and the media go nuts, but he loves this country and was putting America first here and on the foreign stage.

May God bless this great country, the United States of America.

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Letters to the Editor | Community | fremonttribune.com - Fremont Tribune

It is said that laughter is the best medicine and it couldn't be truer. After all, great sense of humour is also deemed one of the most attractive qualities in someone you love. But there are other benefits to having a good sense of humour such as it benefiting your psychological health and mental health. So, without further ado, from Aquarius to Libra, see Zodiac air signs and the type of humor that appeals to them the most.

Libra

Deadpan humor is the sort that most appeals to this zodiac sign. Libra has a sharp wit and they use their intelligence to pass comments on people using dry humor. The best part is that during this process, they have a completely unemotional and straight-faced countenance, which confuses people. This air sign tends to make irony the champion in the way they pass jokes.

Aquarius

As one of the most arrogant of air signs, Aquarius borders on narcissism and true to their core personality, Satire is the style of humor that best suits them. Most Aquarius are intellectuals and they do their best to stay on top of present events. Their humor is peppered with pop culture references, trending jokes, memes and the fun they poke at mundane everyday situations. They seek to impress people with their wit along with making them laugh.

Gemini

Dark humour is the type of humour a Gemini is skilled at, as they can pass controversial comments that do not resonate with everyone. Most of them are closet stand-up comedians who wish to titivate the crowd with their jokes, alas, their style of humor does not evoke cheers from the audiences. This is mainly because it is deemed morose and cruel at times with an edge of chauvinism. It is more often than not, politically incorrect.

Disclaimer: While these attributes are generic, these are primarily focused on your zodiacal qualities; all the above traits may not necessarily hold true for you.

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Aquarius to Libra: See Zodiac air signs and the type of humor that appeals to them - PINKVILLA

Welcome to Tuesdays Early Edition from i.

Its going to be a dramatic day. The new prime minister will take the keys to No 10, at the same time thunder, lightning, and even a hailstorm will rain down on Westminster and other parts of the country. The forces of nature may also see Liz Truss bend from tradition and deliver her first speech as leader of the nation from within Downing Street instead of outside it. Drama also broke out late on Monday night, as Nadine Dorries and Priti Patel both quit the front bench. How will today unfold, and whats first on the Truss governments agenda? Well peek out from the covers to examine it after the headlines.

Thousands of Europeans living in the UK are still unable to work, travel or send their children to school due to the backlog in processing post-Brexit visa applications. Tens of thousands of people have been waiting longer than a year for the Home Office to make a decision on their application, with campaigners warning that the delays are threatening the livelihoods of those affected. The problem has been blamed on staff shortages by the Home Office.

A man deliberately infected with HIV has been denied compensation because he once shouted at David Cameron. Stuart Rodger has not received the 22,000 that would have been awarded to him as a victim of the crime because of a previous public order offence committed against the former prime minister. He said: I feel deflated and humiliated. Ive fallen through a legal crevice.

Refugees sent to Rwanda face an authoritarian regime which tortures and murders its opponents, the High Court has heard. A legal challenge to the Governments controversial Rwanda policy is under way in the High Court, in what is likely to be one of the first headaches for incoming prime minister Liz Truss. Charities and asylum seekers bringing the case argue the policy is unlawful and immoral.

Comedians will be prevented from ambushing politicians on the BBCs flagship Sunday morning show, after Liz Trusss team were said to be incandescent that her interview with Laura Kuenssberg was hijacked by Joe Lycett. There was concern within the BBC that the edition, which reignited criticism of the BBCs impartiality among Conservative MPs, could have long-term consequences.

Meghan Markle used a speech in Manchester to criticise those turning a blind eye to wrongs around the world, in her most high-profile UK engagement she and Prince Harrys high-profile departure as working royals. At the same event, Bob Geldof gave a fiery speech criticising Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The war in Ukraine is bound to last for several more years as neither side currently have the capability to perform a knock-out blow on the other, an expert has told i. The counteroffensive in Kherson is being used by Ukraine to demonstrate to the West it can use all the arms supplied amid concerns of support sapping as the winter approaches, he added.

Donald Trumps demand for a special master to oversee the case into his handling of classified materials has been granted by a judge, in what is being seen as a small win for the former US president. It means he will be allowed an independent lawyer who decides if any of the records seized in a search by the FBI are covered by attorney-client or executive privilege.

The Israeli army has concluded there is a high possibility that a Palestinian journalist who died while covering a raid in the occupied West Bank was killed by one of its soldiers. Shireen Abu Akleh was working for Al Jazeeras Arabic language channel when she was shot in the city of Jenin on 11 May.

One of the suspects in a mass stabbing spree that left 10 people dead and 19 injured in Canada has been found dead, police said, but his brother, the other suspect, remains at large. Damien Sanderson was found dead on Monday, with injuries that are not believed to be self-inflicted.

Antarcticas so-called doomsday glacier has the potential to rapidly retreat in the coming years, scientists say, raising concerns over an extreme sea level rise event. The Thwaites Glacier, capable of raising sea levels by several feet, is eroding along its underwater base as the planet warms, a new study says.

many speeches. Boris Johnson kicks it all off around 7.30am with his farewell speech, while Liz Truss will address the nation for the first time as prime minister at 4pm.

Support for Liz Truss is weak but the prospect of electoral annihilation will focus Tory minds, says Katy Balls. Nothing scares MPs more than seeing the party sink in the polls and looking at what it means for their seat.

My old editor Charlie Wilson was wonderfully politically incorrect and workplaces need more people like him, argues Simon Kelner.

You dont have to live on an 80-acre estate to grow your own vegetables, writes Clodagh McKenna. A pack of seeds costs about 2. Shouldnt we all be doing this?

Dont Worry Darling: Harry Styles can act, but something went wrong in editing, writes Matthew Turner. Florence Pugh delivers a compelling, sympathetic turn thats probably better than the film deserves.

Boris Johnsons green legacy has major flaws its up to the next prime minister to rescue net zero, explains Madeleine Cuff. Mr Johnson likes to portray himself as a champion of climate action, but he leaves his successor with a net zero mountain to climb.

VAR has never worked and never will, its time to scrap it for the good of football, writes Daniel Storey. Another weekend on which refereeing and VAR came under fire after controversial decisions affected results.

Cockroaches are generally not met with squeals of delight, but even those suffering from the most severe form of katsaridaphobia would agree this latest invention could be a good one. Remote-controlled cyborg cockroaches, which are part insect and part machine, have been created by scientists hoping the innovation could be used to inspect radioactive sites. One of the scientists involved said: Keeping the battery adequately charged is fundamental nobody wants a suddenly out-of-control team of cyborg cockroaches roaming around.

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i morning briefing: A new prime minister addresses the nation - iNews

2022 is Philip Larkin's centenary, so it's no surprise to find my memories a little hazy. The chuggety-chug of "The Whitsun Weddings" (Eng Lit O Level 1979 - grade B, if you're asking), the Eminem-style opening line about your Mum and Dad, the friendship with Kingsley Amis and a vague sense of some politically incorrect stuff at a time when almost nothing could be genuinely categorised as politically incorrect. He died in 1985, about ten years before I would have guessed, at 63, the same age as his much disliked father, a last unwanted gift from the accident of birth.

Not much of that is going on the playbill, but we do get an absolutely splendid show, Ben Brown's award-winning 2000 four-hander revived with tremendous verve and no little pathos by Strut and Fret. Larkin, who looks a lot like Eric Morecambe, had much of that comedian's comic timing and ready wit and, in this version of him at least, holds the misogyny at bay and mines the misanthropy more for its capacity to amuse rather than to wallow in self-pity.

Daniel Wain is super in the role, laughing as much as I can recall an actor laugh on stage, often at Larkin's own expense, railing against the world, against his own shortcomings (personal and professional), against - with a little more seriousness - his block as a poet. Wain shows that Larkin can be insensitive, bend truth to his own ends and stick rigidly to his principles (at least when it suits him) but there's plenty of charisma there, a willingness to laugh at the world with the same schoolboyish sense of humour that morphed into his schoolboyish taste in Soho's under-the-counter, brown-enveloped magazines. Wain delivers a man whom we shouldn't like really, but we do - I suspect the women in his life felt something of the same.

Ah, the women of the title. I've left it 300 words before mentioning them because, unlike more than one play I've seen in the last month or so, these women are fully formed characters, Brown sidestepping the temptation to create them merely to cast light on The Great Man in whom he is really interested. They need no bolstering from your reviewer.

Lynne Harrison plays Maeve Brennan, coyly peeping out from behind a blonde fringe, a junior at Hull University Library invited by Larkin (who was Head Librarian) to his flat for tuition before her exams. Predatory behaviour? Well, she was 31, retained her strict Roman Catholic beliefs (allowing Brown to have a lot of fun giving Larkin cynical line after cynical line about marriage and the value of virginity) and they were together - albeit on and off, it was like that with Larkin - for many years. They not equals at work or in matters of the mind, but she's no victim either. Harrison vests her 'bit-on-the-side' (which is demeaning, but the right phrase for the time) with an ongoing hurt, but a love too for a man she idolised and could never quite leave - nor he her. It was, of course, a less judgemental time, at least beyond the boundaries set by twitching net curtains.

Betty Mackereth was for many years Larkin's efficient secretary, amused and a little fascinated by the man-child she tended (there's brilliant directing by John Gilbert and Jenny Hobson with a briefcase that says more about their relationship than any exposition) who becomes an occasional lover too. Annabel Miller gets a showstopping moment that provoked many a dubious chuckle in the stalls and captures the attitude of a woman who didn't want much, but got it from a man with much the same approach to their longstanding affair.

Mia Skytte goes through a glorious range of 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s Bohemian fashions (Junis Olmsheid is in award-worthy form as the designer, as the set is a delight to look upon and adapatable too) as the love of Larkin's life, the academic Monica Jones, with whom he shared a sense of humour and until very late in life, a fear of commitment. Skytte has a tricky role - she is not quite a wife, but more than just another lover, a source of sex intellectual stimulation and comfort for a man who probably wanted them in that order for the first half of their time together and in the reverse order for the second half. Skytte gets to show why Monica was so ideally suited to provide such, and like Harrison and Miller, creates a wholly rounded individual in whom we believe. It's wonderful to hear her laugh so much too.

There was more to Larkin than we see here - a play with the title Larkin With Men would cast him in a much darker light - but that was not Brown's objective and it's the playwright's call. What we do get from a very classy production indeed, is a warm, affectionate, funny examination of Larkin's relationships with the three women who circled him for much of his life. Larkin is more flawed than they are of course, but there isn't the tang of entitlement on his part nor condemnation from the playwright that would, one presumes, be foregrounded in any such play written today.

That's a moral judgement and you pays your money and you takes your chance with such matters - as a critical judgement, this is a fine example of what small scale, fringe theatre can. Delightful.

Larkin With Women is at The Old Red Lion Theatre until 17 September

Photo: Marc Brenner

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Review: LARKIN WITH WOMEN, Old Red Lion Theatre - Broadway World

Despite Phil Collins taking over as the lead vocalist in Genesis, he would have still given up the band in an instant to have joined The Who as a drummer following the death of Keith Moon. Collins even initiated talks with Pete Townshend, but it was poor timing on his behalf, and they couldnt strike a deal.

In 1975, after Peter Gabriels exit from Genesis, it was down to Collins to step up to the mantle and ensure the band survived. Much to his surprise, they became more wildly successful during his stewardship than under his predecessor and hit new heights. However, Collins would have given everything up in a heartbeat to join The Who and return to having the eyes off him.

It was never Collins plan to become one of the most recognisable vocalists in the world, but something he accidentally fell into. His role would have been to operate solely behind the drum kit and leave the singing to a professional if it was up to him.

The late Moon is one of Collins all-time favourite drummers, and it would have been an honour for him to continue his legacy. Speaking on reflection, he once said of The Who: I think that one of the classic rock tracks of all time is Wont Get Fooled Again and I remember seeing them on TV, they were televised from Charlton Football ground and I saw him with this gaffer tape around his head, with his headphones, you know, it hurts to take it off if youre foolish enough to put it around. The way he played, there was no orthodoxy at all.

Shortly after Moons death, Collins proposed the idea of him replacing the late drummer in The Who to Townshend, with who he was working on a project alongside. Unfortunately, the group had already decided to work with Kenney Jones, and Collins offered his services too late.

Absolutely would have joined The Who. I would have left Genesis to join The Who, he toldThe Guardianin 2016. But theyve got a great drummer now in Zak Starkey, hes fantastic. Someone with the balls that Keith Moon had.

He elaborated toClassic Rock: I played Uncle Ernie inTommy[in a 1989 concert with the Who], which I loved doing, though it was very politically incorrect playing a paedophile. But it was great because I was with the Who. I was working with Townshend just after Moon died [in 1978], and I said to him, Have you got anybody to play the drums? Because Id love to do it. Ill leave Genesis. And Pete said, Fuck, weve just asked Kenney Jones'.

Collins felt he was a much better fit for The Who than Jones, who he said was too polite for the band. He added: Because Kenney Jones, unbeknown to most people, played on stuff when Keith was too out of it. He was far too polite for the Who. But I would have done the job. I would have joined them.

Watch the footage below as Collins as Uncle Ernie inTommy.

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The moment Phil Collins tried to replace Keith Moon in The Who - Far Out Magazine