News Of The Week Roundup -- Week 8, 2021

Happy end of February!

This past week felt super long to me. Up until yesterday, the weather was cold and my cabin fever hit a new all-time-high. Today is is warmish but pouring rain, so a mixed bag I guess. As always, there was a lot of diverse news stories and here are some highlights:

Tiger Woods was in a bad car accident in California. He flipped his car, hurt his legs and most certainly will not be playing at The Masters this year. In fact, he is looking at a long and probably painful recovery period.

“I expect Tiger to be rehabilitating from 8 - 12 months, but could be back much sooner if he doesn’t need additional surgery. If the healing process goes as planned, we will see Tiger back on the course.”@sportsdocmatt provides insight on Tiger Woods' leg injuries ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SjUovZDRMe

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) February 27, 2021

Donald Trump's tax returns - millions of pages of them - were turned over to the New York district attorney. It will be interesting to see what information the documents include.

JUST IN: Tax records that Trump tried to keep secret for years are now in the hands of the New York district attorney after the US Supreme Court denied the former President's last-ditch effort to keep them private https://t.co/8NMdeBFSmQ

— CNN (@CNN) February 25, 2021

President Joe Biden bombed Syria in a retaliatory attack against Iranian-backed militias. The President has to protect American citizens of course, but the constant aggression in the Middle East is way beyond old and I am far from the first person to think this - and the sentiment is pretty consistent across the entire American political spectrum of regular folks. Maybe we could stop bombing folks and just spend some of that money here at home?

The strike in Syria exemplifies why Congress must take action to repeal the 2001 and 2002 AUMF. No single person should have the power to authorize military force.

The era of forever wars must end. https://t.co/nvPQQ6T0cc

— Barbara Lee (@BLeeForCongress) February 27, 2021

Soon you will be able to buy your Reese's Cups in an organic version... and there will be plant-based options soon. I am a vegetarian and have been since 1994 or so, but even I think the idea of plant-based chocolates is a little crazy. I mean, I'm not vegan, so I eat all sorts of chocolates. I was vegan for a time in my early 20s and my hair fell out pretty bad, so I went back to consuming milk and cheese and eggs. I know other people swear by veganism and I wish them well. It just didn't work out for me. I will say I do enjoy some plant-based food options, especially the Impossible breakfast sandwich at Starbucks. Delicious (but calorie dense)!

Hershey says it's "the first mass chocolate brand to offer an organic option," and even some plant-based products could be on the way. https://t.co/LT9AGuNZiG

— Food & Wine (@foodandwine) February 27, 2021

Not breaking news: streaming continues to grow in popularity and now accounts for more than 80% of earned revenue from music sales. I mean, this is just common sense. It is hard to buy physical media these days and most people don't want the hassle. Folks would rather compromise sound quality for convenience and just have songs on their phone to listen at will. Honestly, I have turned into one of those people, too.

Streaming accounted for 83% of recorded music revenue, with subscriptions, social and fitness app use on the rise https://t.co/gTSSn1twRv

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 27, 2021

And I leave you with this - from the "no shit, sherlock" column:

50 years of tax cuts for the rich failed to trickle down, economics study says https://t.co/qaR1u5FYnV

— carolynryan (@carolynryan) February 28, 2021

Comments

[Jack T. Ripper]

Pretty sure the IRS has had Trumps Tax Returns all along. Aren’t they the organization that gets paid to oversee and find irregularities? In other Political news Cuomo is falling from grace. Add a second sexual harassment allegation on top of a cover up and threatening other government officials. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

[GNR]

Trickle down could have worked if the tax cuts were used to have everyone prosper as initially designed to promote commerce and jobs. Maybe having oversight that these cuts were used to invest or grow vs. sticking it in your back pocket. However instead of spreading that wealth, I guess it's he/she who dies with the biggest piggy bank wins. Years of unchecked tax code revisions to benefit the ultra rich. Unchecked by all administrations - f*ckers.

And yes Ripper ~ Cuomo should be in this list of news of the week. It is almost laughable on how news is tip toeing around this. So obvious and ignorant news reporting.

[Jack T. Ripper]

GNR- It’s pure Hypocrisy! It’s actually sickening how the Left gets a pass from Big Tech and Media. If Cuomo was a Republican Governor he would have been crucified by the press and forced to resign.

[Him]

Nothing political about this post, mind you. But what the hell does "It’s actually sickening how the Left gets a pass from Big Tech and Media" mean, Jackie Ripeur? Who is passing what, you passionate purveyor of non-sequiturs?

Let's break it down: (a) the Left [meaning: liberal]; (b) gets a pass [meaning: is overlooked]; by (c) Big Tech [which tends to lean towards the Left even if people like Thiel lean in an entirely different direction]; and (d) Media [which I grant you has a generally Left-Centrist tilt]? So are you saying that liberals like liberal things? Well, don't conservatives like conservative things too? Geesh. What are you possibly hoping to share with us? Moreover, what does this do to actually posit something beyond "I don't like liberals?" Geesh, again. And please note: I am not endorsing the other side of things. As, sadly, the other side seems to think this sort of pretzel-logic makes sense.

You want to salt the Earth in favor of those chestnuts you keep close to your, err, vest. Cool. But don't act like your braggadocio is either interesting, engaged, or proactive. Preaching to the choir is easy. Taking steps to engage is harder. You have to actually engage those with whom you disagree and find a way to turn talking points into walking points (and I won't get into how you have changed your terms of arts in the past few months).

But I give you props for keeping up appearances and doing your thing. Why? I respect a person who sticks to their guns, even when they consistently shoot themselves in the foot. Why? I dunno. I guess I am a sucker for a person who keeps yelling when they know that they aren't saying anything. You make my life a little brighter by proving that humans haven't become much brighter (but you are a shining star, Jaundiced Phew Whipper, that's what you are). And I respect people who let me see them, full form, in even minor comments.