Ryan Keberle

Trombonist, Composer, Bandleader, Professor at Hunter College and MSM, Home Chef, Sports Fan.

[Morgan J. Freeman @mjfree]

I’m sorry but since when are we measuring reflecting pools against skyscrapers? The dementia is getting out of control.

[Amelia 🇺🇸 @amelia_tweetz]

Imagine if a woman president crashed the economy and started a war with no end in sight, and her biggest, seemingly ONLY concern was building a ballroom and redecorating the White House.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

Follow the money on this one. It is rotten to the core.

The Pentagon just lent $620,000,000 to a tiny North Carolina startup called Vulcan Elements. The company is two years old.

It had fewer than 50 employees.

And three months before the deal was announced, Donald Trump Jr.’s venture firm quietly took a stake in it.

Here is the part the administration tried to bury.

Of the dozens of companies the Pentagon was weighing, Vulcan was the only deal initiated by a top White House aide. That aide was Peter Navarro, a close friend of Trump Jr. The order came down to move fast.

One official put it plainly: The call came from the White House. We have to get this done.

Staff worked late nights to push it through in weeks. Deals like this normally take many months of vetting. And when it closed, Vulcan’s valuation jumped from about 200 million dollars to roughly 2 billion.

A windfall for the investors, including the president’s son.

This is public money. Your money.

Routed through the Pentagon to enrich the president’s family and their friends. The Bush administration’s own chief ethics lawyer called it corruption we pay for.

And there is more coming.

A drone parts company Trump Jr. holds a stake in is also under Pentagon review.

This is not a one-off. It is a pattern. The president’s family is treating the federal Treasury like a private bank, and the bill lands on every taxpayer.

https://t.co/4kB1cZNmlE

[Gavin Newsom @GavinNewsom]

This week alone:

DOJ opens an investigation into the woman Trump raped.

The White House is caught steering a $620 million contract to Don Jr.’s firm.

The Pentagon hands out a $10 billion contract after Trump buys stock in the company.

Foreign governments are caught funneling hundreds of millions into a random JPMorgan account tied to Trump’s “Board of Peace” with no oversight.

It’s just Thursday.

The corruption isn’t hidden anymore. It’s happening out in the open.

[Spencer Althouse @SpencerAlthouse]

omg not Will Ferrell playing Jeffrey Epstein during the SNL cold open

Will as Jeffrey Epstein: How you doing, Donny, baby?

James Austin Johnson as Trump: Not so good, Jeffrey. My approval rating is in the 30s.

Will: 30s?! Gross. Call me when it hits 17.

[ブルーノート東京 @BlueNoteTokyo]

【Coming Soon】MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA
8.4 tue., 8.5 wed., 8.6 thu., 8.7 fri., 8.8 sat.
https://t.co/qZIJbqyYn2

長きにわたり世界中から愛される作編曲家マリア・シュナイダーが、豪華メンバーを率いて9年ぶりに登場！
幅広いレパートリーから各セット異なる構成でお届け。最高峰ジャズ・オーケストラを指揮する“音の魔術”をぜひ間近でご体感ください。

#mariaschneider #bluenotetokyo @schneidermaria @DonnyMcCaslin @mr_dudley_jpg @nadje @ryankeberle @julienlabro @JohnathanBlake1

[Rep. Mike Levin @RepMikeLevin]

This is the question worth asking every time a story like this comes out: if there’s no money for your health care, your kids’ schools, or the programs your family depends on, where is it going?  

The Trump Administration just paid $17.4 million to fix two decorative fountains outside the White House. Three years ago, the same job was estimated at $3.3 million.   

And guess what? The construction company that got the contract is the same one building Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom, and they got it without any competitive bidding whatsoever. The contract wasn’t even posted publicly, as required by federal law.  

So how do you get from $3.3 million to $17.4 million? They added 27% for inflation. Then they added another 24% for inflation again. Then they tacked on additional charges that federal contracting experts said they had never seen before in their careers.  

And the justification for bypassing the normal bidding process entirely? The fountains needed to be ready for America’s 250th anniversary. It’s worth noting that these fountains haven’t worked for nearly a decade. If the repairs were truly that urgent, why are they only fixing them now, and why are taxpayers footing a surcharge for the rush?  

You are paying for this.  
https://t.co/ShQS13cJNt

[Brian Allen @allenanalysis]

🇺🇸BREAKING: Louisiana Republicans just cancelled an active election.

Ballots already cast.

Votes already recorded.

All of it thrown out to redraw maps and eliminate Black majority districts.

Watch what democracy looks like when it’s being dismantled in real time. 👇

[evan loves worf @esjesjesj]

Mississippi is approx 40% black
Alabama is 25%
Georgia is 33%
Louisiana is 33%
Tennessee is 15%
Florida is 15%
South Carolina is 25%
North Carolina is 20%

Purely racist ruling

[Political Punk @actingliketommy]

So... you can't draw a district that gives black voters voting power but you CAN draw a district that takes their power away?

Got it.

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities - so long as they do it under the guise of “partisanship” rather than explicit “racial bias.” And it serves as just one more example of how a majority of the current Court seems intent on abandoning its vital role in ensuring equal participation in our democracy and protecting the rights of minority groups against majority overreach.

The good news is that such setbacks can be overcome. But that will only happen if citizens across the country who cherish our democratic ideals continue to mobilize and vote in record numbers - not just in the upcoming midterms or in high profile races, but in every election and every level.

[Sen. Bernie Sanders @SenSanders]

The FCC is now threatening ABC's broadcast licenses, days after Donald Trump and Melania Trump demanded they fire Jimmy Kimmel.

This is straight out of the authoritarian playbook.

Mr. President: Read the Constitution. Freedom of speech is the First Amendment for good reason.

[Robert Reich @RBReich]

Tim Cook donated $1M to Trump’s inauguration.

He fawned over Trump and gifted him a 24-karat gold plaque (as Apple lobbied for tariff exemptions).

Apple donated to Trump’s ballroom.

And it removed ICE tracking apps from its stores after a demand from the DOJ.

Remember this.

[Meacham @MeachamDr]

I know what I’m going as for Halloween this year.

[Ryan Keberle @ryankeberle]

Paris this Friday! @letriton1

[Physics & Astronomy Zone @zone_astronomy]

The highest quality video of the moon was just released… this is so beautiful.

[Elizabeth Warren @ewarren]

Imagine if instead of funding forever wars in the Middle East, the United States delivered universal child care and health care for all Americans.