Republican strategist Stuart Stevens is known for advising key GOP campaigns like Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential bid. Now he has written a powerful mea culpa for the Washington Post, laying the blame for what he regards as President Trump’s failed response to the coronavirus pandemic squarely at the feet of all Republicans. Michel speaks with Stevens about all this and about his new book, “It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump.” Originally aired on March 31, 2020.
I was lucky enough to hear Rachel Figley in concert during an Acoustic Showcase in Baker Center at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, during which she sang “Dirty Foreign Hooker,” which is a stand-out song, although some may find the title off-putting. Immediately after the concert, I went on Amazon and bought all her songs that were available. “Dirty Foreign Hooker” is very melodic and rhythmic and the words flow smoothly off Rachel Figley’s tongue. Listen to the song’s preview snippet that Amazon provides and see if you agree. Norah Jones needs to cover this song so that many, many more people will hear and enjoy it. — David Bruce’s Review on AMAZON
“Mika here knows what he is doing, and knew that he only had one day in which conditions were ripe for running across Ukkijärvi Lake in Kangasala, Finland. According to the YouTube description, the lake is relatively small and freezes thick enough to skate on in the winter, although it is often covered with snow. This winter, there has been very little snow so far. The lake froze to 10 centimeters thickness, perfect for skating. Then the weather warmed a little, causing the ice to melt just enough for a couple of millimeters of water to form on top. This left the deliciously clear ice looking like clear water. Mika put on his running spikes, dressed as if it were summer, and was able to film himself running on the lake on December 10. Let’s hope he got some warm cocoa afterward for his efforts. -via Digg” — Neatorama
Occurred on December 10, 2018 / Kangasala, Finland
“The lake is called Ukkijärvi which means Grandpa lake and is located in the center of Kangasala city near Tampere, Finland. Ukkijärvi is a real small lake, 450 meters by 150 meters. It was possible to have this kind of conditions, which are rare even here in Finland, because of the small size of the lake. Every year we wish to have clear ice without snow to get good surface for ice skating. This year wasn’t typical at all. We had a long fall season without snow. The cold weather and heavy snowfall didn’t start immediately. That’s why this small lake got chillier and froze sooner than bigger ones after few very cold nights. The ice on the lake was over 10 cm thick when bigger lakes still had open water.We had been ice skating already for few days when temperature got warm again. Ice was still thick enough to carry a man, but after some rain there was also a couple of millimeters of water on it. From the balcony of our house we got just the right angle, and it looked exactly like open water. The conditions were perfect for that one day only. Shooting the video wouldn’t have been possible any other day. Mika has a background in track and field so he got his running spikes. With spikes, the surface was perfect to run on. Actually, it was more difficult to walk than run.”
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