Greeting for Today

Homeland Security Wants to Prosecute Parents Crossing Border With Children

Unbelievable.

"The nation’s top immigration and border officials are urging Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen to detain and prosecute all parents caught crossing the Mexican border illegally with their children, a stark change in policy that would result in the separation of families that until now have mostly been kept together.

If approved, the zero-tolerance measure could split up thousands of families, although officials say they would not prosecute those who turn themselves in at legal ports of entry and claim asylum. More than 20,000 of the 30,000 migrants who sought asylum during the first quarter — the period from October-December — of the current fiscal year crossed the border illegally.

In a memorandum that outlines the proposal and was obtained by The Washington Post, officials say that threatening adults with criminal charges and prison time would be the “most effective” way to reverse the steadily rising number of attempted crossings. Most parents now caught crossing the border illegally with their children are quickly released to await civil deportation hearings."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/immigration/top-homeland-security-officials-urge-criminal-prosecution-of-parents-who-cross-border-with-children/2018/04/26/a0bdcee0-4964-11e8-8b5a-3b1697adcc2a_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.30b205960504

Louie, Louie

In 2018 the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame introduced a new awards category, inducting into the hall six singles recordings that helped to shape rock history.

Included in these six recordings was "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen.

From Wikipedia:

"Louie Louie" is a song written by Richard Berry in 1955 and best known for the 1963 hit version by The Kingsmen. It has become a standard in pop and rock, with hundreds of versions recorded by different artists. The song is based on the tune "El Loco Cha Cha” popularized by bandleader René Touzet and is an example of Latin influence on American popular music.

The Kingsmen's recording was the subject of an FBI investigation about the supposed but nonexistent obscenity of the lyrics, an investigation that ended without prosecution. Ironically, the recording notably includes the drummer yelling "Fuck!" after dropping his drumstick at the 0:54 mark.

By some accounts "Louie Louie" is the world's most recorded rock song with over 1,600 versions and counting (with more appearing regularly on YouTube and elsewhere).

****and how many teenage garage bands?

Remember the big scandal in 1993

when Zoe Baird, Bill Clinton's nominee for AG, was found to have not paid Social Security taxes for her Peruvian nanny?

That was a big scandal. Baird was turned down for the position.

Now this seems like a walk in the park, compared to the daily scandals, lies, grifting, corruption, and collusion with foreign enemies. And I mean DAILY!

How did we get from there to here?

Chubby Checker - Let's Do The Twist!

In 2018, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame introduced a new award category, dedicated to "single recordings" of songs that helped shape rock history.

Included in the six original inductees is Chubby Checker's "Do the Twist".

According to Wikipedia:

"The Twist" was written and originally released in early 1959 (having been recorded on 11/11/1958) by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters as a B-side to "Teardrops on Your Letter". Ballard's version was a moderate 1960 hit, peaking at number 28 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Chubby Checker's 1960 cover version of the song gave birth to the Twist dance craze. His single became a hit, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 19, 1960, where it stayed for one week, and setting a record as the only song to reach number 1 in two different hit parade runs when it resurfaced and topped the popular hit parade again for two weeks starting on January 13, 1962.

In July 1960, Checker performed "The Twist" for the first time in front of a live audience at the Rainbow Club in Wildwood, New Jersey and just weeks later, on Aug. 6, 1960, the song became a national sensation after Checker performed it on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.

In late 1961 and early 1962, the twist craze belatedly caught on in high society. Sightings of celebrities doing the dance made the song a hit with adults, particularly after a report in the Cholly Knickerbocker gossip column. Soon there were long lines at the Peppermint Lounge nightclub in New York, the most popular celebrity twisting spot. This new interest made "The Twist" the only recording to hit number one on the United States charts during two separate chart runs, and marked a major turning point for adult acceptance of rock and roll music.

Let's beat down the vulnerable even more! says Dr. Ben

"U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson on Wednesday will propose to increase the amount low-income households are expected to pay for rent as well as require those receiving housing subsidies to work, according to the administration’s legislative proposal obtained by The Washington Post.

Currently, tenants generally pay 30 percent of their adjusted income toward rent or a the public housing agency minimum rent not to exceed $50. The administration’s legislative proposal sets the family monthly rent contribution at 35 percent of their gross income or 35 percent of their earnings by working 15 hours a week at the federal minimum wage -- or approximately $150 a month, three times higher than the current minimum."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/04/25/hud-secretary-ben-carson-to-propose-rent-increases-for-low-income-americans-receiving-federal-housing-subsidies/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f05d57fa8a05

******** Perhaps they're hoping tripling the rent will let them evict non-compliers? So cruel! Didn't Dr. Carson have the benefit of public housing when he was young? You'd think he'd have more compassion for these vulnerable folks.

Shocking reason behind the Toronto van attack - I found this mind boggling

"The deadly van attack in Toronto is shining a spotlight on the controversial, often misogynistic world of "incels."

The term incel is short for "involuntarily celibate," and the community that uses the label is typically dominated by men voicing frustration online about their lack of sexual relationships, sometimes blaming women for their failures with the opposite sex."

"Toronto police said Tuesday that Alek Minassian, the 25-year-old suspected of driving the van that plowed into pedestrians on a busy stretch of Yonge Street in Toronto's north end Monday, killing 10 people, is alleged to have published "a cryptic post on Facebook minutes before he began driving the rented van."

More:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/what-is-an-incel-toronto-van-attack-explainer-alek-minassian-1.4633893

**********

There just seems to be no end to the hatred of women by some males in our society. It is truly frightening.

Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats

In 2018 the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame introduced a new awards category, inducting six "singles" songs into the Hall that served to shape the course of rock music.

Included in the six new inductees was "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats, recorded in 1951.

From "The Blues Foundation" web site:

Rocket ’88” is one of many blues and R&B singles cited in retrospect as ‘the first rock ‘n’ roll record.’ Producer Sam Phillips recorded it at his Memphis Recording Service, where Elvis Presley would launch his recording career three years later, and historians also cite the accidental distortion from Willie Kizart’s guitar amp — a buzz created after the amp fell off the top of the band’s station wagon on the way to the session. And the band was led by Ike Turner, who of course became an icon in rock and R&B. This was the first session for Turner; Ike sang a couple of laid-back blues at the date and turned the mike over to one of his saxophonists, Jackie Brenston, for the uptempo ‘Rocket ’88’.’ Phillips, who at the time was hustling tapes to various companies, sensed a two-artists-in-one-session opportunity, and presented the results to Chess Records as one single by Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm and another by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. It was Brenston’s disc that took off, reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts (Chess Records’ first chart-topper), and motivating Brenston to split from Turner and launch his own short-lived career.

The Revolutionary Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine is About to Set Sail

And the 18-year-old who got it going.

"On a Wednesday afternoon in a sprawling lot on a former naval air station in Alameda, California, across the bay from San Francisco, workers are welding a massive black tube together. The tube–roughly the length of a football field–is one piece of a larger system that will set sail for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch this summer, where it will begin collecting some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic trash brought there by ocean currents."

"Six years ago, the technology was only an idea presented at a TEDx talk. Boyan Slat, the 18-year-old presenter, had learned that cleaning up the tiny particles of plastic in the ocean could take nearly 80,000 years. Because of the volume of plastic spread through the water, and because it is constantly moving with currents, trying to chase it with nets would be a losing proposition. Slat instead proposed using that movement as an advantage: With a barrier in the water, he argued, the swirling plastic could be collected much more quickly. Then it could be pulled out of the water and recycled."

https://www.fastcompany.com/40560810/the-revolutionary-giant-ocean-cleanup-machine-is-about-to-set-sail

Check out this ridiculous slider from Carlos Carrasco

Thrown in last night's game against the Orioles.

That's just SICK!!!!

https://www.mlb.com/cut4/carlos-carrasco-unleashed-a-crazy-pitch/c-273564308?partnerId=ed-12522669-1068038203