Wiretap: lunch-shaming, Twitter blocking and what’s going on between Rachel Maddow and Roger Ailes

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and former Fox News boss Roger Ailes are apparently good friends. And no, you didn’t wake up in an alternate universe. This seemingly-unlikeliest of friendships dates back to at least 2009. Today’s Washington Post, which referred to them as the “odd couple,” (no kidding!) looks at what each sees in the other. Maddow says Ailes is “charming and friendly.” Ailes, in a comment to the New Yorker, said “Rachel is good, and she will get even better when she discovers that there are people on earth who don’t share every one of her beliefs.”

The Center for American Progress has a new website that tells you when the president is at his Mar-a-Lago estate, how much his jaunts to the Florida White House costs taxpayers, and some suggestions on where that money could go instead, such as Meals on Wheels, the National Park Service, both which are in for big budget cuts under his proposed 2018 budget, and public school funding.

North Korea yesterday warned that Trump’s tweets may be pushing the two nations into combat, according to the Evening Standard (UK). North Korean Vice foreign minister Han Song Ryol told The Associated Press that Trump’s recent tweets about North Korea are part of a “vicious cycle” of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and that his “aggressive” tweets were “making trouble.  Han warned the US against provoking North Korea militarily, saying: We will go to war if they choose.’” The New York Times reported earlier this week that four US warships were headed to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force.

Wiretap doesn’t usually get into the world of professional cycling, but there’s a nugget today that’s worth mentioning. Dan Wuori of Colorado-based VeloNews, offers his fans a once-a-year opportunity every Easter to ask for his help in getting unblocked from Twitter accounts. Most of the blocks come from cyclists in the pro peloton, but today’s annual list also includes a couple of people asking for help in getting back into Donald Trump’s good graces. One fan said he mocked the president’s hairstyle two years ago and for that was blocked from seeing Trump’s tweets. Could Wuori get him back in Trump’s good graces? Wuori’s response: “I’m only so good.”

Lunch-shaming was all over the news this week, and the New Mexico legislature did something about it. The term refers to what happens to kids whose parents haven’t kept up on paying for their school lunches. In some cases, the child gets only bread and cheese while other kids get a hot lunch. Other times, the kids are required to clean the lunch rooms or do other work in order to pay off their lunch tab. NPR reported Wednesday on a new law in New Mexico that outlaws lunch-shaming. The sponsoring lawmaker, Sen. Michael Padilla, relayed how he mopped floors to pay for his lunches as a child coming from the foster care system.  “It’s very obvious who the poor kids are in the school,” Padilla told NPR. Under his measure, which was signed into law last week by New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, all students will have access to the same lunch, and the law also ends the practice of “trashing lunches that have been served to students who can’t pay, or making students do chores to work off debt.”

Don’t forget – your taxes aren’t due tomorrow, April 15, the traditional due date for annual income tax returns. It’s been pushed off to Tuesday because of the weekend, and according to Marketwatch, in an entertaining explainer, you can thank President Abraham Lincoln for that. Really.. But there are some tax day activities planned, including protests in 40 states that demand Trump release his tax returns. According to NBC News, he’s the first president since Richard Nixon to withhold his tax information.

 
Photo credit: Laura Taylor, via Creative Commons license, Flickr