This is the website of Abulsme Noibatno Itramne (also known as Sam Minter). Comments here or emails to me at abulsme@abulsme.com are encouraged... or follow me on
Twitter as @abulsme.
This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner Sam and Ivan’s main topics are the Republican Civil War that is brewing, and various Trump administration mini-scandals from the last week. But they also spend some time on the solar eclipse, MacBook Pros, Powerball, the military transgender ban, if Trump will have a primary challenger in 2020, the recent Navy crashes, Trump’s Arizona speech, and more!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-08-24
Length this week – 2:12:05
(0:00:36-0:28:02) But First
Agenda
Sam and the Eclipse
Ode to Macbook Pro
Powerball
(0:28:46-1:01:15) Republican Civil War
McConnell article
Cracks in the wall
Obstruction of Congress
Approval ratings
Trump agenda
Congressional agenda
(1:02:58-1:35:57) Mini-Scandals
Carl Icahn
Ryan Zinke
Louise Linton
Steven Mnuchin
Secret Service
Ben Carson
(1:36:36-2:11:45) Lightning Round
Movie: The Jungle Book (1967)
Military Transgender Ban
2020 primary challenge for Trump?
Navy Crashes
Trump’s Arizona speech
Unstable Trump
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan talk healthcare (recorded before McCain killed it, oops), the Spicer to Scaramucci transition (recorded before Scaramucci’s New Yorker rant, oops again), the Trump vs Sessions battle, and Kushner’s testimony. But they also talk about the Charlie Gard case, data tethering, Ivan’s treating himself after getting a new job, some TV stuff, Sam’s wife’s run for office, and even more! Another big full show as usual!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-07-27
Length this week – 2:14:12
(0:02:15-0:31:26) But First
Agenda
Intro Length and Show Length
Tethering and HBO
Ivan’s new job
Ivan fails
Ivan glasses again
Ivan’s Treat
(0:33:08-0:57:12) Healthcare
McCain and the MTP
Sausage making
Republican no-win scenario
What comes next?
Skinny repeal
(1:01:31-1:40:43) Trump Administration
Spicer Out, Scaramucci In
Trump vs Sessions
Kushner Testimony
Who is cooperating?
Ongoing drama
Trump misdirection?
(1:41:28-2:13:50) Lightning Round
TV: Class (2016)
Charlie Gard
Trump and the Boy Scouts
Run Brandy Run
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner: WAR! PIVOT! LIGHTNING! More specifically, Sam and Ivan talk about the situations in Syria, Afghanistan, and North Korea… then they move on to Donald Trump’s changing positions on a number of issues, and what that means for both his supporters and opponents. Rounding out the show, bits about the guy pulled off the United plane, Wikileaks, planespotting, a movie Sam watched, the congressional special elections, and even more!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-04-15
Length this week – 2:06:12
(0:00:15-0:22:02) But First
Show Edits
Agenda
Ignored Topics
Reorgs and Layoffs
Movie: The Terminal (2004)
Planespotting
(0:22:40-0:59:46) WAR!
Legal Authority
Pictures of War Victims
Trump ignorance
Missing Volta?
North Korea Escalation
Spicer on Nazi Germany
What is a chemical weapon?
MOAB in Afghanistan
More on North Korea
(1:00:21-1:24:20) PIVOT!
List of Flip Flops
He is still Trump
Healthcare
Trump learning?
Difficulty Legislating
No agenda
Title origins
(1:26:02-2:05:53) LIGHTNING!
United troubles
Congressional special elections
Blackmailing Trump
CIA on Wikileaks
More ignored topics
Contact us
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner Sam and Ivan talk about the latest developments on Trump’s immigration policies, but after that, they do something they haven’t done in a while. Lightning rounds! And ones that include some non-political things too! They can’t avoid SOME additional political talk, but they also discuss wireless headphones, the new discovery of 7 potentially Earth-like planets, Cloudbleed, and more!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-02-24
Length this week – 2:03:03
(0:01:30-0:09:17) But First
Shouting at customers
Agenda
(0:10:33-0:43:27) Immigration
New travel ban planning
Prioritization changes
Roundups and escalations
Role of laws and congress
Scared people
Only some countries matter
Relations with Mexico
(0:45:27-1:17:52) Lightning Round 1
Cab accident
Movie: Nightmare before Christmas (1993)
Movie: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Flagged for abusing Trump
Wireless headphones
New Earth-like planets
Republican town halls
Obamacare
(1:18:56-) Lightning Round 2
Cloudbleed
Trump infosec
Trump polls
What might move polls?
Choices for Democrats
IC trying to bring down Trump?
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
It is back to the normal grind on this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner with Sam and Ivan. As if there was anything else, they have to start out talking about the explosive “Trump Dossier” and everything surrounding that. Trump and hookers and bribery, oh my! With that out of the way, they talk about Trump’s press conference and the latest developments with the Congress and Obamacare as well.
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-01-13
Length this week – 1:42:52
(0:00:38-0:04:15) But First
UTC
Agenda
(0:05:19-0:49:14) The Dossier
Order of events
Allegations
Origin of doc
Confirmation?
Alex interruption
Believable?
Press reaction
Trump reaction
Contrast with Obama/Pence
Disagreements with cabinet
(0:50:30-1:13:05) Trump Press Conference
Was it a disaster?
Alex again
Trump changes the topic
The next election
Conflicts of interest
Things changing quickly
(1:13:41-1:42:32) Obamacare
ACA is actually Obamacare
What is congress doing now?
Possible consequences
Democratic response
Claim victory and go home?
Trump/Congress relationship
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner Sam and Ivan return to the normal non-election format. The three main topics are fake news, Trump’s conflicts of interest, and how to respond to Trump. They also talk a bit about MacBook Pros, iPads, Fidel Castro, Standing Rock, Syria, and even more! Join us as things start to settle into the new normal.
Click below to listen or subscribe… then let us know your own thoughts!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2016-12-01
Length this week – 1:55:48
(0:00:10-0:21:20) But First
Agenda
MacBook Pros and huge iPads
Trackpads/mice/trackballs
Gestures
(0:22:29-0:47:37) Fake News
How it gets created and spreads
Engagement algorithms
Possible solutions?
(0:48:25-1:05:40) Trump Conflicts
Trump’s plan to minimize conflict
Trump International
Who can do anything?
Trump supporter regrets?
(1:06:59-1:28:42) Responding to Trump
How to respond to lies and crazy?
Outrage fatigue
Taking Trump’s phone?
Presidential alerts
Congressional strategy
(1:29:20-1:55:28) Lightning Round
Congressional earmarks
Fidel Castro died
Standing Rock
Columbia plane crash
Electoral College update
Daylight Saving Time
Syria
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
This week on the Curmudgeon’s Corner podcast Ivan and Sam’s big topics are the Presidential race, the goings on in Congress, and Ivan’s musings on tech while attending Oracle OpenWorld. That gets you everything from the Benghazi hearing to the appeal of Carson to Speaker Ryan, the Budget Deal, and even Twitter and Hadoop. But it all starts with a bit on San Fransisco, and Sam breaking his foot. Fun!
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Recorded 2015-10-28
Length this week – 1:53:06
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On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner podcast, Ivan joins Sam again to complain a bit about Cleveland and last week’s conversation about Volkswagen. Then the main topics for this week: Election 2016, the Speaker of the House, and Syria. To close it off, a lightning round talking about Breaking Bad, Star Wars, iPhones, that Raccoon story that has been going around, and more!
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Recorded 2015-10-01
Length this week – 1:44:41
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This is the latest in a series of quarterly posts on congressional legislative output. I started these in June 2013 in response to a flurry of commentary about how the 113th congress was lagging behind in output compared to previous congresses. Now, it is fundamentally debatable if passing fewer laws is a good thing, a bad thing, or just a completely meaningless number since of course the impact of laws varies widely. I’m guessing in reality, it is a pretty meaningless number.
But I noticed that in many of these debates, there was a lack of rigor in the ways these numbers were used. For instance, it seemed common to compare the current number of laws passed in the 113th, to the TOTAL passed in the 112th or 111th. Or maybe talking about the “pace” at which legislation was being passed as if there was an expectation that this would continue linearly. Never did I hear a comparison that actually looked specifically at where the previous congresses had been at the same point in the cycle. So I made one.
Now the new stuff:
The 114th congress is now past their first 100 days. Past 150 in fact. So lets check in on how they are doing at the whole making laws thing. Bottom line, they have produced more signed laws than either the 112th or 113th congresses at this point in the cycle, and they are actually not that far behind the 111th.
In the latest Curmudgeon’s Corner with Sam and Bruce:
* Vacations / Riding a Bike / Ads?
* Seymour Hersh on Bin Laden Raid
* Amtrak Crash
* Bush’s Bad Week / Reagan Lives!
* Lightning Round
Recorded 2015-05-15
Length this week – 1:30:43
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Abulsme { Miley often cuddles with him until he is asleep, then extracts herself and goes to her own place to sleep. :-) } on Miley and her sleeping boy at 24 June 2018 00:38:59 UTC
Abulsme { Yes, when you make a public comment, it is indeed public and everyone can see it. Unless you are really saying something you don't want... } on Curmudgeon's Corner: Toy Swords at 24 June 2018 00:38:00 UTC
Diane Minter { Very sweet. Looks like Miley would like to get up,but Alex has his arm around her. Maya says her kids do that, throw an arm... } on Miley and her sleeping boy at 26 May 2018 18:57:52 UTC
Diane Minter { Hi Sam, Loved the last video of Alex´s Youtube channel but my question is this. I am only subscribed to his channel and another. I... } on Curmudgeon's Corner: Toy Swords at 31 March 2018 15:59:25 UTC
Ruth Brandon { Think you got a bit more than I did - you are nearer mountains and further from Sound I guess but not sure you have... } on Christmas Snow Timelapse at 27 December 2017 07:03:21 UTC
Abulsme { Transcription services seem to cost on the order of at least $2 a minute, perhaps more. So getting a typical one of our shows transcribed... } on Curmudgeon's Corner: Talk Good Enough at 17 December 2017 00:54:30 UTC
Diane Minter { Hi Sam, As one of your big fans, I love to know your opinions.. But, since I read much faster than you and Ivan talk,... } on Curmudgeon's Corner: Talk Good Enough at 17 December 2017 00:27:36 UTC
Ruth Brandon { Love that Alex called you to silence in the "quiet car" !!! } on @abulsme tweets from 2017-11-09 (UTC) at 18 November 2017 20:11:51 UTC
Diane Minter { Yes, I think it turned out great!! Full family participation including Grandma Ruth and Miley. I would have liked a slower version to check out... } on Halloween 2017 Timelapse at 2 November 2017 20:26:07 UTC
Diane Minter { Happy Birthday, Sam. Seems like the whole family is doing really well. Brandy running for office, Alex having play dates and talking a mile a... } on 16801.141 Days at 16 September 2017 11:47:05 UTC
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