Super Bowl LX is upon us and advertisers are again bringing their commercial A game. Keep an eye out for Pepsi’s hilarious ad featuring a familiar face.
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If you’ve frozen a glass container before and it broke, you’re certainly not alone. Fortunately, there are ways to safely freeze glass without it shattering.
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Martha Stewart’s gardener has the perfect tip for keeping cauliflower plants healthy, and it actually involves a process called blanching.
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Janet Mills’ first TV ad hits ICE
Gov. Janet Mills’ first ad buy as she seeks to unseat Sen. Susan Collins features a repudiation of ICE as Democrats nationwide seize on backlash over the agency’s aggressive tactics.
The new TV spot, shared first with POLITICO, pairs news clippings and videos of ICE agents aggressively detaining people with footage of Mills criticizing the deportation campaign during her State of the State address on Tuesday.
“Our federal government has deployed masked law enforcement onto the streets, including here in Maine, stoking fear in our communities and killing American citizens in Minnesota,” Mills says in the ad. “It’s ridiculous, outrageous and unconstitutional.”
The six-figure buy goes up statewide on Friday and is running across broadcast and digital for the next two weeks.
It comes as immigration enforcement has become a national political issue, with voter backlash against ICE raids leading Democrats to talk more about an issue that had once been favorable for Republicans.
An ICE surge in Maine, dubbed Operation Catch of the Day by Homeland Security officials, received widespread backlash from Democrats and local leaders, who highlighted cases of Maine residents being detained by the agency despite having legal work permits and no criminal histories. The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last weekend further inflamed anger in Maine, too.
Collins announced Thursday that ICE would be halting its surge in the Pine Tree State, but the fallout of the heightened enforcement continues to roil the state. Mills’ decision to seize on ICE for her first ad is a sign she believes the issue will have staying power.
Mills’ main primary opponent, oysterman and political newcomer Graham Platner, has also gone after Collins on ICE this week, holding protests outside her offices in Portland and Bangor on Thursday.
Platner ran TV ads skeptical of Mills when the governor first jumped into the Senate race last fall. His campaign recently went up with more biographical spots and has pledged to stay on air through the June primary.
Politics
Every week political cartoonists throughout the country and across the political spectrum apply their ink-stained skills to capture the foibles, memes, hypocrisies and other head-slapping events in the world of politics. The fruits of these labors are hundreds of cartoons that entertain and enrage readers of all political stripes. Here’s an offering of the best of this week’s crop, picked fresh off the Toonosphere. Edited by Matt Wuerker.Politics
Minnesota Democrats are figuring out the delicate art of Trump diplomacy this week.
First, President Donald Trump had a “very good call” with Gov. Tim Walz, an inflection point after days of heated GOP attacks on the former vice presidential candidate. Then, Trump declared he’d had another “very good” conversation, this time with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. Both sides had been looking to deescalate, and Trump seemed to be turning a corner on the two Democratic “sanctimonious political fools” he had initially blamed after the shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Then the mayor accidentally broke the detente.
After meeting with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, Frey reiterated on social media that “Minneapolis does not and will not enforce federal immigration laws,” which a person close to Frey said was simply intended as “clarifying what our stance was.” But Trump quickly shot back, declaring Frey’s “statement is a very serious violation of the Law” and warning the mayor that “he is PLAYING WITH FIRE.”
Trump’s response “surprised” the mayor, according to the person close to him, who was granted anonymity to speak about a sensitive issue. This person said city officials saw Trump’s response “as a threat.” Nonetheless, Frey, in recent appearances on CNN and at the National Mayor’s Conference in Washington on Thursday said “the Operation Metro Surge needs to end” while eschewing the kind of combative rhetoric that he had used over the weekend. Homan told reporters on Thursday morning that he’d asked for immigration agencies to work on a “drawdown plan.” After a tense day or two, the fragile peace appeared to be holding.
The episode illustrates just how delicate the ongoing talks to deescalate the crisis in Minnesota are with a president known for his capricious and erratic negotiating style. As Democrats across the country see a rare political opening on immigration, Minnesota Democrats are first and foremost trying to end the immigration crackdown in their own state. Despite their public confidence, they’re privately on tenterhooks over whether Trump will take the exit ramp.
“This back and forth [between Trump and Frey] is unhelpful,” said one Minnesota Democratic strategist, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive situation. “Strategically, I wouldn’t have phrased it that way. It’s not a huge mistake, but it’s not helpful.”
It’s a lesson foreign leaders are deeply familiar with already: Diplomatic breakthroughs with Trump can come fast, and fall apart just as quickly. European officials have regularly had to scramble to respond to the president’s controversial statements on the war in Ukraine or the ownership of Greenland with highly deferential overtures in both public and private. They’ve had mixed success.
Throughout Trump’s second term, Democrats have struggled to find their footing in negotiations with the president. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer drew fury from his own party for voting for a GOP-drafted continuing resolution in March. In October, Democrats forced what would become the longest government shutdown in US history over health care funding, but they emerged from it without any tangible deliverables. But in Minnesota, Democrats appear to hold the political upper hand, as Trump’s polling numbers, particularly his handling of immigration, plummeted in recent weeks — and he signals eagerness to cut a face-saving deal.
“Everyone needs to give something here to move on from this,” one Minnesota union chief said — adding that it can be difficult to do. A Democratic operative in the state expressed hope that Frey’s post was merely “a bump on the exit ramp.”
But not all Minnesota Democrats agree that playing ball is the way forward. “Being nice isn’t somehow going to stop Donald Trump when anything can set him off,” said Ron Harris, a Democratic National Committee member from Minnesota. Frey’s post, he said, simply “emphasized what the law is.”
A spokesperson for Frey said in a statement that “the mayor has been communicating both publicly and privately, including to the president and Tom Homan, that Minneapolis would be happy to partner on criminal investigations, and that’s what we’re focusing our limited law enforcement resources on.”
It’s unclear when the Trump administration will end its operation in Minnesota, though the president appears motivated to do so. The Trump administration has already pulled back in other states. Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins said that ICE has “ended its enhanced activities” in Maine after politicians on both sides of the aisle urged the agency to stop.
For Democrats studying Trump diplomacy, Walz and Frey may offer a template in some of their tonal differences. Interviews with nearly a dozen Minnesota Democrats said the pair were largely aligned in substance, and the rhetorical daylight, highlighted by the social media scuffle with Trump, reflects their differing constituencies and styles — and political realities.
Last November, Frey held off a stiff challenge from the left from state Sen. Omar Fateh, a Democratic Socialist, to win reelection. But the progressive wing of the party retook the majority on city council, too. “He’s facing a lot of internal pressure” from the city council to “continue calling out the craziness,” said a Democratic strategist who, like others, was granted anonymity to candidly discuss a sensitive issue.
“Frey’s constituency is different” than Walz, the strategist said, “and in general, I think he’s been more combative … They’re also just different people with different negotiating styles.”
The 44-year-old mayor is also seen as a potential statewide candidate, layering in its own political calculations. Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s gubernatorial run — and departure from the Senate — could likely open up another statewide office after 2026.
Walz, for his part, is unshackled from an immediate political future. The two-term governor dropped his reelection bid earlier this month, after a welfare fraud scandal in the state threatened to engulf his campaign. Walz acknowledged the scandal affected his decision and Republicans were eager to tie him to it, but he has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Abou Amara, a Minneapolis civil rights attorney, said Frey’s aggressive rhetoric toward the beginning of the federal government’s intervention was “necessary,” but now “everyone understands there has to be a ratcheting down.”
“The mayor is obviously closer to the people, he understands the visceral pain and the trauma that the people are experiencing,” Amara said. “The governor is operating on a level of having a bit more authority here on how the state interacts with the federal government. … Governor Walz is in a position to deliver on things with the federal government in a way that the mayor is not.”
Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.
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How to Close a Cereal Box The Right Way
There’s a hack that has made its way around the internet showing how to properly close a cereal box. We thought we were doing it right all of these years. Oh, how we were wrong. After watching this video, you’ll probably never close a cereal box the same way… Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
NOTN- Juneau residents turned out Thursday evening for a legislative town hall at the Mendenhall Valley Library with Juneau’s delegation.
State Senator Jesse Kiehl and Representatives Sara Hannan and Andi Story met with constituents to share updates from the current legislative session and hear directly from the community.
“Mostly, the reason we’ll do this is to hear your questions or hear your comments. By golly, we need to hear from you. You’re who we work for.” Said Kiehl Thursday morning.
Attendees asked about a range of issues facing Juneau and the state including disaster response, Representative Andi Story assured constituents that the legislature is speaking with Alaskaa ‘s congressional delegation to come up with long-term mitigation plan for glacier lake outburst floods.
“Everyone’s living with a lot of stress, it’s emotionally draining when its your home.” Story said, “We know August is coming around, we’re trying to repair the HESCO barriers, we are trying to do what we can.”
Most prevalent was the budget, and more specifically, the Governor’s recently proposed fiscal plan, currently making its way through the legislature.
“What we have to do is have a balanced budget.” Story said, “We don’t have to pass any policy at all, but every year we have to come together to provide a balanced budget to meet our constitutional budget requirement.”
The Governor’s sweeping fiscal plan includes Alaska’s first statewide sales tax in more than four decades. The proposal would create a year-round sales tax, 4% in the summer and 2% in the winter, running through 2034.
“It would add on top of local sales tax, and it would override any local sales tax decisions.” Kiehl said, “So Juneau voters just voted to take sales tax off of food. This will put sales tax back on all food, that’s an issue.”
If adopted the tax could potentially raise over 800 million dollars a year by the early 2030s.
The plan also includes a constitutional amendment to set a “50-50” Permanent Fund Dividend, which would amount to roughly $3200 per recipient.
“What the governor used to propose, was just take more than we can sustain out of the earnings reserve. Great, big draw.” Kiehl said, “So I applaud the Governor for saying, okay, that old idea of his doesn’t work. His proposal takes that cap, and it says we’re going to draw 5% we’re going to split it 50-50, between public services and PFDs. but you can only do that if we spend even less on services than we do now.”
Kiehl said the Governor’s proposal could underfund schools and building maintenance.
“The state’s going to crumble and fall down if we do that, the math doesn’t work.” He said,”Could we protect a dividend? Yeah, but the simple fact is,
we’re not gonna get the votes to raise taxes to increase the PFD from where it’s been. We should stabilize the PFD, but if we’re talking about adding taxes to Alaskans and Alaska businesses, we’re not going to do that to pay out a bigger check than we’ve been paying.”
Representative Hannan hinted at an opportunity for residents to publicly testify at a Senate Finance meeting next Thursday, this has yet to be confirmed on the Alaska State Legislature website.
The meeting took place in person and was live-streamed on Facebook.
Strange as it seems now, there was a period in the 1960s when Billboard magazine stopped publishing its R&B chart. From late 1963 until early 1965, the publication did not carry a separate soul listing from its main pop-oriented Hot 100.
Hot R&B Singles made its last showing in the November 23, 1963 edition. The celebrated chart compiler Joel Whitburn’s reference books use rival magazine Cash Box’s Top 50 In R&B Locations list from that period. The modern understanding of the decision not to publish is that it was because Billboard felt the R&B and pop charts had become too similar, with so many soul records crossing over to the pop market.
It was certainly true that the gap occurred as Motown tightened its grip on the national soul and pop consciousness — but when the chart returned, the company’s dominance was all the greater, not to mention the soul-to-pop preeminence of Stax, Chess, Atlantic and other power bases.
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On January 30, 1965, when the soul chart made its Billboard comeback as Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles, Motown ruled the roost, with two of the top three and three of the Top 5. The Temptations were No.1 with the timeless “My Girl,” for the first of what would be six-week reign.
Listen to the best of The Temptations on Apple Music and Spotify.
In a 40-position chart that technically contained 40 new entries, the great Texas soul man Joe Tex was at No.2 with “Hold What You Got.” Motown was at No.3 with the Supremes’ “Come See About Me” and No.5 with Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).” In between came the blue-eyed soul of the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin.’’”
Sam Cooke, tragically shot dead only weeks before, had two titles in the Top 10, “Shake” and its poignant, nominal B-side “A Change Is Gonna Come” (listed in the R&B countdown as “…Going To Come”). Cooke was further represented at No.40 with “Cousin Of Mine.”
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Also in the Top 20, Ray Charles was “Makin’ Whoopee,” the Radiants were urging you to “Voice Your Choice,” there was more Motown action from the Marvelettes and the Contours, and the Impressions were giving the chart some gospel with “Amen.”
Otis Redding debuted with “That’s How Strong My Love Is” and there were chart 45s for two of Chess’ great ladies of R&B, Jan Bradley with “I’m Over You” and Mitty Collier with “No Faith, No Love.” Billboard had truly got its soul back.
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Hardy brings in Morgan Wallen, Eric Church and Tim McGraw for “McArthur,” a four-verse generational story told through lyrics that hit hard. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs