The Korean Meeting

VOX:  5 powerful images from Kim Jong Un’s historic meeting with South Korea’s president Hugs, flowers, and standing ovations marked the first day of the Pyongyang summit.

I had lunch with 5 gentlemen from South Korea today, so I found the above article interesting. In summary, the gentlemen would like peace to prevail on the peninsula for good reason. They seemed pretty confident that Kim Jong Un wants that also, and trusted in Moon Jae-in's ability to broker the peace.

I am less hopeful that this time will be different from the past attempts. However they told me that Kim Jong Un is different from his father due to the years he spent in the west

They also seemed interested in re-unifying South and North Korea at some point in the future.  Being the joker I am...  I told them that I was pretty sure Kim Jong Un would happily take over ruling a combined Korea if they let him. 😁 They did not seem to think that was a good idea.


Well I am praying that they are correct and I am incorrect.  Peace on the Korean peninsula would be a very good thing for everyone.

Here are a couple more recent pieces
BBC South Korea's Moon Jae-in: Caught between Trump and Kim

NBC North Korea is still making nukes, and the Trump admin is taking a harder lineThe newest intelligence shows Kim’s regime has stepped up efforts to hide its nuclear weapons production, say three senior U.S. officials.

Trump's 5 Assaults on Democracy

Hillary seems pretty accurate in this. USA Today Hillary Clinton charges that President Trump has launched five 'assaults' on democracy

1. Undermining the rule of law. Clinton points to news reports that Trump expected Attorney General Jeff Sessions to protect him from special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, regardless of the law. She also accused Trump of urging the Justice Department to go after his political opponents. Although she didn't mention it in her essay, Clinton is one of the people Trump has publicly asked the department to investigate.
2. Failing to protect the U.S. election system from further attacks from the Russians or other foreign governments. Clinton said Trump and Republicans also are trying to suppress voter participation by putting "onerous – and I believe illegal" – regulations in place.
3. Attacking journalists and "waging war on truth and reason." Clinton talks about Trump's penchant for making false and misleading statements. She says he needs to learn to take criticism from the media and push back without destroying the free press.
4. "Breathtaking corruption." Trump promised to "drain the swamp," but instead, Clinton contends, "It’s amazing how blithely the president and his Cabinet have piled up conflicts of interest, abuses of power, and blatant violations of ethics rules."
5. Weakening national unity. "Trump doesn’t even try to pretend he’s a president for all Americans," Clinton writes. "It’s hard to ignore the racial subtext of virtually everything Trump says."

I mean there is no question about 1, 2, 3 & 5.  Trump does not believe in team building, collaboration, facts and data, encouraging peace, etc.  #4 seems accurate given the number of "Trump's best people" that got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Not sure if it is breath taking though.

Trump: The Kidney Stone

Eric Black at MinnPost has a very pragmatic article here. Andrew Bacevich makes me think I might be making too big a deal of Trump. Thoughts?

"If Bacevich is right, then I, too, am guilty of making too big a deal of Trumpist America. At least, for a moment, he has me thinking that I might be. 

Trump is not the disruptive force that anti-Trumpers accuse him of being. He is merely a noxious, venal, and ineffectual blowhard, who has assembled a team of associates who are themselves, with few exceptions, noxious, venal, or ineffectual.

So here’s the upshot of it all: if you were basically okay with where America was headed prior to November 2016, just take a deep breath and think of Donald Trump as the political equivalent of a kidney stone — not fun, but sooner or later, it will pass. And when it does, normalcy will return. Soon enough you’ll forget it ever happened.

If, on the other hand, you were not okay with where America was headed in 2016, it’s past time to give up the illusion that Donald Trump is going to make things right. Eventually a pimple dries up and disappears, often without leaving a trace. Such is the eventual destiny of Donald Trump as president."

Here is the latest example...
CNN Yes, Trump can sink even lower than denying the death toll in Puerto Rico

Kerry Meets with Iran Personnel

Apparently Trump did not learn that attacking veterans is bad for his approval ratings.  Now he is going after John Kerry.

CNN Pompeo blasts Kerry's Iran meetings as 'beyond inappropriate'
The Hill Trump Slams Kerry


So should Kerry be talking with these folks or not?  Rationale?

What is Wrong with Work Requirements

From Laurie:

Here is an off topic link for John about what is wrong with work requirements
The GOP’s cruelty toward the poor is paying dividends in suffering

And We Wonder Why Our Schools Struggle

VOX Students are waging war on sexist and racist school dress codes — and they’re winning Traditional dress codes punish marginalized students disproportionately, but this anti-racist, anti-sexist dress code could fix that.


Being a fan of school uniforms and / or dressing appropriately for the activity... I mean my weekend clothes are oil / paint stained, full of burn holes and very well worn. I love to wear them to my family's embarrassment. That does not mean that I should wear them to the office.


Why are these idiots spending energy on dress codes?  Half the kids in inner city schools are FAILING ACADEMICALLY, and there answer is to let them dress for a nightclub, gang meeting or a yoga class?


I do feel for the kids when so many adults want to enable their feelings of freedom, instead of teaching them to become successful adults.


G2A Are Dress Codes Sexist?

What's in Your Wallet?

PEW Are you in the American middle class? Find out with our income calculator

This is an interesting calculator. My demographic was Bachelors Degree or more, 45 to 64, White and Married.  And it reports...

It is a pretty simplistic calculator since it just has only 1 number for household income. So should a person include IRA / 401K gains, benefits or just salary?  So instead I tested where middle class started and ended for a family of 5 in the Twin Cities region.  It turned out to be a pretty wide range:

• Low to Middle: ~$59,000
• Middle to Upper: ~$180,000 

So depending on what income is include my household would either be upper middle or lower upper, which seems about correct.

For comparison, here was the distribution for Black, High School Degree, Single, 30 to 44.

And Black, College Degree, Married, 30 to 44.

It may be simple, but it is interesting.

The Problem with Tariffs

It sure would have been simpler if American Consumers had just invested in America and her workers by Buying American.  :-)

Trump responds to Apple’s warning tariffs will increase prices: build more in the USA... That time Tim Cook spent trying to get in Trump’s good graces didn’t quite work according to plan.

BI The CEO of an American boat manufacturer perfectly laid out how Trump's tariffs are crushing US businesses


US Companies Warn of Consequences

Trump vs Obama

I sure do like listening to Obama speak, he is an incredible orator.  Though I am curious who he will be helping by becoming visible again?

Will he enrage the right get out and vote?
Will he get the left motivated to actually show up at the polls?

VOX Speech Transcript

Guy in the Plaid Shirt...

This guy in the plaid shirt video is hilarious. The Trump crew apparently hand picks people to stand behind Trump and instructs them to be supportive.  Then removes anyone who does not comply.  Then replaces them with some staged hotties to make Trump look good. 

As always, I often wonder if the Trump True Believers understand how focused he is on manipulating them?  Here is some background...  NYT How He Got His Seat

Johnson vs Walz

Peter at MinnPost does a good job with With a few exceptions, Minnesota governor’s race shows stark differences on education

Walz for Gov

Johnson for Gov

Trump Says: Your Fault if I get Impeached

CNN Trump tells supporters it'll be 'your fault' if he gets impeached


I have to wonder if Trump has ever accepted personal responsibility for any of his errors???  Or if he always rationalizes that someone else failed and he is just a victim of their incompetence...  I am guessing he always self identifies someone else to blame. Remember this concept.

"Psychologists have shown that all humans are subject to “fundamental attribution error.” When we assess others, we tend to attribute successes to circumstance and failures to character — and when we assess our own lives, it is the opposite. "

Can Karin Housley Win?

Sam at Minnpost wrote an interesting piece. Is Karin Housley the Minnesota GOP’s best shot at a Senate seat in a decade?  I'll have to do some more research.

Karin Housley for Senate

Tina Smith for Senate

Thoughts from the Adults in White House

NYT I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration


I am assuming the opinion piece is going to drive Trump even crazier... Just think how he is going to look at all of his senior staff after this...  I wonder if he will bring in the lie detector machines??? This seems related.

Trump Never Ceases to Amaze

And not in a good way... Over the weekend, Trump apparently tweeted that Jeff Sessions should have delayed indictments until after the election for political reasons.

"Two long running, Obama era, investigations of two very popular Republican Congressmen were brought to a well publicized charge, just ahead of the Mid-Terms, by the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Two easy wins now in doubt because there is not enough time. Good job Jeff......"

The irony of course being that he begs for the Justice Dept to play politics, while accusing them of playing politics with the Russia mess.


The amusing part of the week will be reading about Trump's response to Bob Woodward's new book.