As the waystation depot for All Things Trains (well, okay, not "all" things, or even most, but at least many), it was a treat to discover today that a couple weeks ago the U.S. Postal Service released some terrific commemorative stamps honoring the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad.

There are three stamps in the series (and six sets of them on a sheet), Two of the stamps each feature the locomotives for the trains -- the Jupiter and the 119 -- that brought officers and guests of the Union and Pacific train companies to the “Golden Spike Ceremony” joining the two lines at Promontory Point, Utah.  In between them the stamps is a third of the famous golden spike.

​As the USPS describes the background --
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​So, rush out to your local post office and get a sheet or two while supplies last.  I picked up three sheets and might pick up some more when I next pass by the post office on my morning constitutional...

All aboard..!

For a long while now, I've been writing that as repulsive and dangerous as Trump's actions have been, this is no longer about Trump.  We know who he is at this point.  It's about the elected members of the Republican Party.  They enabling him -- they enable pretty much everything he does and say.  Just the other day, Trump tweeted from Japan that North Korea only exploded a few small missiles that weren't dangerous despite what U.S. intelligence services report, and that country's murderous dictator Kim Jong-Un said he agrees that Joe "Bidan" is a Low-IQ person.  And not even a sound from Republicans in Congress about that.  In fact, there wasn't a hiccup the next day when Trump contradicted himself and said, now, that North Korea hasn't even exploded any missiles

Silence from the Republican Party. 

This is about the elected officials of the GOP.  They knowingly enable.Trump, and if they had any courage, respectability or sense of living up to their sworn oath to protect, preserve and defend the United States and its Constitution, they could stop Trump cold.  They could have stopped him a year ago.  Longer.

Sunday afternoon, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) left the following tweet.  It explains today's Republican Party in Congress as well as pretty much anything.

My sense is that Chuck Grassley shouldn't use big words like "honor" whose meaning he pretty clearly has long-since forgotten.

The thing is, most Americans can read.  The Mueller Report said no such thing that Mr. Grassley tries to claim.  (And I use "Mr." carefully and out of politeness and deference to his position as a U.S. Senator who has sworn an oath to protect the United States.). In fact, the Mueller Report actually noted numerous instances.  It just didn't indict the president -- which is another matter entirely.  And further, it suggested that the only reason it didn't indict the president was because it was against Justice Department policy.  This is something Chuck Grassley should know since he sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee.  (He even had been chairman.)  In addition, left out of his dishonorable comments is that the Mueller Report noted many instances of obstruction of justice..

And on top of all this, Grassley then goes on the make the gut-galling claim that we "Need to reestablish confidence in FBI/CIA.

Hey, here's a thought!  A really huge way to "reestablish confidence in FBI/CIA" is to tell his party leader to stop saying that he believes Putin & not U.S. intel services. And to stop saying he believes the murderous dictator Kim Jong-Un and not U.S. intelligence services.  That would be a incredibly great start!  And as a cool follow-up, he Grassley could tell Trump to stop firing agents of the FBI who have given their life's service to defending the U.S. from foreign and domestic enemies, but who Trump wants to discredit because they are legally investigating his administration.  And also stop stripping former CIA directors of their security clearance, simply because they have been critical of him.

Of course, this is a really easy matter to get to the foundation of.  And that's to have Chuck Grassley answer a really simple question -- does he believe Putin and Kim and not U.S. intel services?? If he doesn't believe them over our own country's intelligence departments, then that means he knows the truth.  And yet sends out hypocritical, shameful tweets like the one above.  (I won't even suggest the alternative, the Grassley does believe Putin and Kim over American intel, because I don't believe that for a single second.)

Chuck Grassley knows the truth.  And he acts to divide the country and enable Trump.  The GOP in Congress know the truth.  And act to divide the country and enable Trump.

And unless they change, which seems profoundly unlikely, it is their legacy.

I wasn't planning on seeing the new live-action version of Aladdin, and figured I'd just wait for it to release on DVD.  I enjoyed the original animated film, but wasn't bowled over it enough to make the trip.  Mainly, it was Robin Williams' performance and accompanying, flamboyant character-animation, along with the score that most-appealed to me.  However, when I noticed at the last minute that the WGA had a 3-D screening, I decided it was worth the trip and jumped in the car.

I thought they did a respectable job.  Some things were even better in the new version -- most notably strengthening the character of Princess Jasmine, now fighting to be heard and made the next Sultan rather than just deciding who to marry (though that's still in the story) -- and some worse.  The plot, for instance, seems a little unfocused, and I thought the third act was a bit of a jumble, including one important plot point as the story comes to a head that for the life of me I can't figure out.  My best guess is that a scene got cut.  (I won't give it away.)  Yes, it's weird to see Will Smith as blue, but it's okay, he's a genie, after all, and they wisely figured out a way for that to be kept to a minimum, as he now helps out Aladdin by acting as his "valet" and looks like a normal Will Smith.  To his credit Smith didn't try to do Robin Williams, and does a perfectly fine, more restrained job.  On the other hand, he's not Robin Williams.  And it turned out a good decision to see it in 3-D, since the film is a vibrant production helped by the added depth to give it a richness.  My biggest quibble on the technical end is that I thought the sound mix on the songs was awful, with the music much too loud, overpowering the lyrics.

I also thought that Naomi Scott as Princess Jasmine was the break-out star here, almost to the film's detriment, since as a result we almost lose the title character's story.  (Her success will likely be enhanced when next seen co-starring in the upcoming remake of Charlie's Angels.)  Scott also gets a new song for the film, written by the original movie's composer Alan Menken, with lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (who did the score for La La Land and The Greatest Showman).  The song, "Speechless," concerns the Princess finally breaking out and refusing to be kept silent anymore.  It's a power ballad, needless-to-say, and very good -- more than a bit reminiscent perhaps of "Let It Go" from Frozen -- and not only does Scott soar with it, but I suspect the number will get an Oscar nomination for best song, and be a frontrunner.

They've released a music video of it.  Two issues -- the clips they use from the movie don't compliment the song as well as idea (though they're understandably trying to sell the movie).  Also, they have that same sound mix issue as in the film.  But it's done well, and the song is centerpiece.

You may have read the story last week about the New Hampshire school cafeteria worker, Bonnie Kimball, who gave a free lunch to a student who didn't have the money to pay for a meal.  And for that she was fired by the school's vendor, Fresh Picks. 

When interviewed about why she gave the free lunch, Ms. Kimball explained, "His family is very well known in this town and I can guarantee that if I called his mother, she would have come right in and paid the bill. But I didn't want to get her out of work. I know they would have brought the money the next day. The bill was going to get paid."

After intense outrage when the story became public, the vendor offered her back her job -- but she turned it down and said she'd find work elsewhere.

A momentary sidetrack, but don't worry, it's all to a point.

Readers of these pages may recall a piece I wrote here a few weeks back about Jose Andres.  If not, Mr. Andres is a world-renowned chef who is aggressive in his actions and unafraid to speak his mind when he sees a wrong.  He pulled his restaurant out of Trump International Hotel in protest of racist comments Trump made about Mexicans.  After the Trump administration showed a lack of proper assistance to help Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, Chef Andres organized the World Central Kitchen to prepare meals there for those in need -- and has continued the charity organization ever since.  And he has been an outspoken critic of Trump, putting teeth to his actions.

I mention this all because after the initial story broke about the school cafeteria worker broke, it just came to light that Chef Andres called Ms. Kimball a "hero" offered her a job with his company.

​No word yet on whether she has accepted.

This week, the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!" comes live from St. Louis.  And a big heads-up to the inveterate Chris Dunn -- who, despite being a St. Louis Cardinals fan, remains a fine fellow AND inveterate -- because the guest contestant on the 'Not My Job' segment is former St. Louis Cardinals Hall-of-Fame shortstop, Ozzie Smith.  His interview isn't deeply substantive, but thoroughly charming and personable, and the best part are many of the questions from host Peter Sagal -- most of which only require a brief answer, but are great fun to hear.  Fun, too, is that for the first time I was able to guess ahead of time what the topic of the 'Not My Job' segment would be.  That should be a good enough clue for others.  If not, it's the best you'll get...
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