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
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On Curmudgeon’s Corner this week, Sam and Ivan review the impacts of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and compare to what Katrina looked like 12 years ago. Then they dive into politics, looking at Trumps latests dalliances with the Democrats and what should or should not be read into that, followed by a discussion on the latest efforts on healthcare from both the Republican and Democratic side. Then at the end, a discussion of this week’s Apple announcements.
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-09-16
Length this week – 2:15:01
(0:01:00-0:10:09) But First
Turning 46
Agenda
Concorde
(0:10:47-0:39:38) Hurricanes
Irma in Florida
Irma in the Islands
Harvey and Irma vs Katrina
Weathering the storm
Nursing Home deaths
(0:40:24-1:14:20) Independant Trump
Making Deals
Schadenfreude
Transactional Trump
Is Trump Republican?
Democrats too happy?
Will this turn the R’s?
He told you!
Equifax Tidbit
(1:15:00-1:34:35) Healthcare
Bernie Plan
Graham-Cassidy
Fixing ACA?
Give Trump a win?
(1:35:15-2:14:40) Apple Stuff
Apple Watch
AppleTV
iPhone 8
iPhone X
Work Phone
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
The week on Curmudgeon’s Corner, Sam and Ivan talk about Ivan’s evacuation from Florida in anticipation of Hurricane Irma, more general thoughts on Hurricane Irma as it approaches Florida, Trump’s recent moves that are making Congressional Republicans upset, Information Warfare in the age of Facebook and Twitter, and finally the Equifax data breach.
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-09-09
Length this week – 1:54:32
(0:00:30-0:40:39) Hurricane Irma
Agenda
Ivan’s Evacuation
Irma’s size
pre-Florida Irma damage
Forecast uncertainty
Florida vs Texas
Evacuation decisions
Hurricanes and climate change
Preparations
One location vs another
(0:41:15-1:06:07) Trump vs Republicans
Pivot!
DACA
Debt Limit
Congressional reaction
Possibilities for centrist policies
Trump the Democrat?
Trusting Trump
Lack of understanding
Independant Trump?
(1:08:05-1:34:56) Facebook and Russians
Eric interlude
What Russians bought
Facebook reach per dollar
Facebook disclosure
Information warfare
Information bubbles
Reporting rules
(1:36:06-1:54:13) Equifax
Taking security seriously
Equifax data and impact
Privacy is dead
Informed consent?
Security is too annoying
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
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.
On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner, guest host Brandy joins Sam to talk about this week’s news. The main topics for the week are of course the events in Charlottesville, everybody’s reactions to Charlottesville, the reactions to the reactions to Charlottesville, and the debate over Nazis and free speech. In addition, they also discuss Bannon’s departure, what that means to the administration, if we’re heading toward an invocation of the 25th amendment, Bannon’s “war”… and if the left should double down on their base or try to reach the Obama voters who flipped to Trump in 2016… and a few other things too.
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-08-19
Length this week – 2:26:15
(0:00:17-0:20:30) But First
Agenda
Intro to Brandy
Base vs Middle
Why Fire District?
(0:21:15-1:14:42) Charlottesville
What happened?
Why is this different?
Motivating resistance
Has Trump done damage?
Trump’s reactions
Trump racist himself?
Why is anyone surprised?
Trump vs Pence
What can R’s do?
What’s next?
Provoking violence
(1:15:48-2:03:00) Free Speech and Nazis
Disclaimer
Why Charlottesville isn’t a good example
Sam and Ivan conversation
Sam gets extreme on free speech
What about politicians and war?
Who gets to decide?
Judging entire groups
Actual speech vs symbols and code words
What about private speech, newspapers, websites?
Limits on government
How big is the threat?
Old doesn’t mean good
(2:04:08-2:25:55) Bannon Out
Chaos or Improvement?
Kelly in control?
Trump and his Staff
Controlling Trump
25th Amendment
Bannon declaring war
Everything messy
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
This week on Curmudgeon’s Corner Ivan makes his triumphant return, once again joining Sam to talk about the issues of the day. The main topics this time: The healthcare debacle, the future Republican agenda, and the Gorsuch confirmation process. Rounding it out, a little discussion of the intersection of politics and ideology, fiscal responsibility, and Sam discusses a book he read. Fun stuff!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-03-29
Length this week – 1:44:02
(0:00:10-0:24:08) But First
(0:25:50-0:50:18) Healthcare Debacle
(0:51:38-1:29:01) The Republican Agenda
(1:30:04-1:43:42) Gorsuch Confirmation
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.
On this week’s Curmudgeon’s Corner Ivan is back, joining Sam to talk about the issues of the day. On the agenda… Russia, Russia, Russia… for some reason Russia keeps coming up when we talk about Trump. Also, the disfunction and incompetence in the Trump administration have been on display again, and they spend some time talking about the ramifications to Trump and the rest of the Republicans. And they celebrate an anniversary… sorta! Oh, yeah, and Ivan’s voice was going, so he sounds like a frog. Enjoy!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-02-18
Length this week – 2:09:09
(0:00:00-0:08:13) Retrospective
(0:08:30-0:23:36) But First
Sick Ivan
GPS Mishap
Milestone
(0:24:51-1:08:05) Russia Russia Russia
Mike Flynn
Broader Russia contacts
The craziest conspiracy theories
Trump approach to Russia
(1:09:25-2:08:50) Incompetence
List of fails
Agenda stalled
Republican tradeoffs
What if Trump was liberal?
Weak ineffective Trump?
25th Amendment math
Trump pool
Unhinged presser
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
It isn’t going to slow down, it is? Ivan and Sam take on Week 2 of the Trump presidency, which was just as nuts as the first week. They cover the immigration executive order and the reaction to it, the NSC shuffle and Trump’s contentious calls with Mexico and Australia, the riots in Berkley, the SCOTUS nomination and the Democratic response, what Republicans are planning on Obamacare, 25th amendment possibilities… and a lot more! Oh, and it was Ivan’s birthday. Happy Birthday Ivan!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2017-02-03
Length this week – 2:16:23
(0:00:36-0:20:22) But First
Happy Birthday Ivan
Agenda
Busy week
Ivan’s campaigns
Attending protests
Opinions changing?
(0:22:21-1:00:45) Immigration Order (mostly)
Was it a Muslim ban?
What the order did
Incompetence or cunning?
Process and purpose of EOs
Polling on the Order
Impacted people
Spontaneous demonstrations
Defying court orders?
Monday Night Massacre
(1:01:54-1:31:01) International Issues (mostly)
NSC shuffle
Russia call
Mexico call
Australia call
Yemen raid
Berkley riot
Quebec attack
(1:31:50-2:16:03) Domestic Stuff (mostly)
SCOTUS Nominee
Democratic Response
Trump vs Republicans
Bowling Green Massacre
Obamacare
25th Amendment
How will the Trump presidency end?
Retreating from the news
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.
Election 2016 is done! Trump won! Everybody is surprised! So of course we have a super-long election wrap up! Darryl joins Sam and Ivan to discuss the Election Graphs and Horsesass electoral college models, what went right, what went wrong, and what we can learn for next time. Then all three discuss the reaction to and ramifications of Trump’s victory. For maybe the last time for a few years, it is an all election, all politics show!
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Show Details:
Recorded 2016-11-11
Length this week – 2:24:32
(0:00:10-1:05:00) Polling Post Mortem
Surprise!
Darryl’s Final Projections
Suspicious Polls
Where polls went wrong
Sources of poll uncertainty
Last minute Trump surge?
Actually very very close
National polls
Sam’s post mortem
Problems with the odds
Turnout
(1:06:10-2:24:12) The Aftermath
Our reactions
Reactions from the right
Trump’s appeal to the white working class
Clinton’s weaknesses
Republican Obstruction strategy
Would Sanders have won?
Should Democrats obstruct?
The Republican agenda
Anti-Trump protests
Which Trump do we get?
Future of the parties
Bold Predictions
Calling Trump voters racist
Radicalization
The Curmudgeon’s Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.
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
Ruth Brandon { 1971 it was - in the afternoon - happy birthday - see you tomorrow when the rest of the world calculates it is your birthday!... } on 16801.141 Days at 16 September 2017 04:26:48 UTC
Ruth Brandon { Not me - I don't think I laughed - but I was glad you proclaimed you were okay with at most a bruised knee and... } on Sam rides Alex's new scooter... at 13 September 2017 17:03:09 UTC
Diane Minter { Glad you are more or less OK, though that knee looks painful. I don´t find it funny but glad everyone else had a good laugh. } on Sam rides Alex's new scooter... at 13 September 2017 11:33:10 UTC
Ruth Brandon { He chatters a mile a minute with me lots of times - but NOT when I ask him direct questions - then he has no... } on Alex is EIGHT!! at 12 September 2017 18:37:00 UTC
Diane Minter { Happy Birthday Alex!!! Sounds like this is going to be a good year and great progress has been made. Congratulations to all since I know... } on Alex is EIGHT!! at 12 September 2017 15:43:46 UTC
Diane Minter { Have a wonderful year Alex. I see that you and Ella both like blue!! } on Newly Minted Second Grader at 6 September 2017 22:28:01 UTC
Abulsme { Since she may not see comments here, I have relayed the message. :-) } on Brandy is running for office! at 11 June 2017 03:09:52 UTC
Diane Minter { Congratulations Brandy!! for running and of course, I am sure, for winning. Keep us posted. } on Brandy is running for office! at 10 June 2017 23:24:14 UTC
Ed Haines { Your discussion of Donald Trump's strategy re Syria makes clear what I was attempting to point out in a FB post discussing strategic planning. Before... } on Curmudgeon's Corner: Magic Eight Ball at 8 April 2017 23:25:51 UTC
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