Random Thoughts 2016, Volume II

Paisley Park Studios in 2008. Photo by Nick Scribner, and can also be found on Flickr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump conquered some of the Northeastern states in primaries Tuesday, including delegate-rich Pennsylvania, to all but mathematically eliminate their opponents on the way to their parties' nominations.  Wednesday, Senator Ted Cruz made former HP CEO (and former presidential candidate) Carly Fiorina his running mate in a last-ditch attempt to stop Trump from snapping up the GOP first-ballot nomination.  Just like his misguided tag-team effort with Ohio Governor John Kasich fell flat, Cruz' pairing up with Fiorina is likely to do the same.  So can Senator Bernie Sanders (who won Rhode Island Tuesday), Cruz and Kasich finally accept reality and drop out of the race?

After all the memorials and tributes to the late singer and musician Prince, attention now turns to how he died and to the state of his finances.  First, it was reported that The Artist, for all the claims about being a clean and sober guy, was allegedly addicted to pain pills.  Second, his sister Tyka Nelson said he left no will, in the apparent belief that he'd live to a ripe old age.  Third, will most of Prince's legacy be sold off to satisfy creditors and the IRS (that's assuming, of course, that he had problems with either or both)?  One can imagine Paisley Park in Chanhassen being turned into an office park, or the instruments and other memorabilia that once belonged to Prince becoming the property of some guy in China.

Many a bad decision has been made in the heat of emotion.  So can we just wait a while before naming things after Prince, or proclaiming purple to be the state color of Minnesota (though the Vikings might want to be on board with that one)?

There are probably many businesses in the Twin Cities and elsewhere that are either playing Prince's music, or are bathed in purple, or both.  It's a nice gesture, but please remember that you might be turning off customers who are either sick of hearing his music, or never cared for The Artist in the first place.  Also, parents who bring their kids into your store might object to the not-exactly-wholesome nature of Prince's lyrics.

There are calls to release the 28 pages of classified documents pertaining to Saudi Arabia's alleged involvement in the 9/11/2001 attacks, supposedly claiming that the Saudis helped fund the terrorists who brought down the World Trade Center.  Are we forgetting that, despite boasts of America being energy-independent, we're still buying barrels of oil from the Middle East?  If the papers are declassified, might the Saudis and their friends retaliate by re-imposing an oil embargo that rivals the one in the 1970s?  Or at least jack up prices at the pump?

It has been 30 years since Chernobyl was turned into a ghost town because of the nuclear accident that occurred there.  Now, nobody wants to build a new nuclear plant because of the environmental consequences.  And the ones that remain are vulnerable to age, ineffectiveness and possible terrorist attacks.  Was it all worth it?