There has been a lot of talk about the economy over the past forever.  Politicians and political enthusiast on all sides of the political spectrum find the subject of US economics to be a constant hot button topic and with good reason.  The economy of a nation is the lifeblood of a nation and mis-managing that is the simplest way to destroy a nation.  That is a major political talking point in every election from dog catcher to president, and with the national debt soaring ever higher, its becoming an even stickier subject.  That’s why when the CBO (congressional budget office) releases its long term budget outlook, it's a pretty big deal.  

Today on Lessons from the Screen we will be taking a look at the CBO Long-Term Budget Outlook.  What does it say, what does it mean, who does it, why we should care, and what should we do?  We will try to touch on most of these subjects and a few more in our allotted time.  Amidst everything else going on today this report is pretty significant and we should definitely analyze what it means.  After you finish listening head to the website and let us know what you think, should we care, is it significant, what do you think we should do, should we do anything at all?  In this episode of lessons from the screen we will be talking about The CBO 2018 Long-Term Budget Outlook Report.       

This week on Trending Tuesday  We will take a look at the top 10 trending topics according to Google Searches. Addition to a bonus listing from the week prior.   Today being the 26th of June we will be going over the top 10+1 and giving you some insight as to whether or not we think these stories are worth your time based on whether or not we feel that they have a potential impact on your life and of course our own bias and interest.  This Trending Tuesday we will be looking at the following topics:

1
Argentina vs Nigeria
Argentina vs. Nigeria: World Cup 2018 Live

2
Australia vs Peru
Peru shuts out Australia for first World Cup win in 40 years

3
Supreme Court
Supreme Court upholds travel ban

4
Argentina
Argentina vs. Nigeria live stream info, channel,updates: How to watch World ...

5
Denmark vs France
France and Denmark Advance After World Cup's First 0-0 Draw

6
GE Stock
Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: GE, LEN, FDS, HOG, VALE & more

7
Bill Russell
Bill Russell flips off Charles Barkley in a gesture he described as 'pure ...

8
Antonio Sabato Jr
House Candidate Sabato Calls Waters 'Hustler of Hate'

9
Caitlin Marriott
Congressional intern suspended after yelling obscenity at President Trump in ...

10
Richard Harrison Pawn Stars
Richard Harrison dies; the 'Old Man' of 'Pawn Stars'

​2 years into the Trump Administration and we are seeing everything that we thought we would see but hoped we would not.  The erasure of Obama era policies was to be expected especially considering the relationship between the 2 men.  Although the legacy of Michelle oddly lives on and occasionally makes a guest appearance in the mouth of Melania, the current first lady.  The embracing of the White Supremacist and their alt right conspiracies was again, expected, especially given Trumps track record for racism and for living in controversy.  But other things that we are seeing while expected, we really hoped would not come to pass.  The disruption of global politics to the level of making friends of enemies and enemies of friends is something that we expected but really hoped wouldn’t happen and prayed that congress would intervene if it looked like things were going in that direction.   Changing military standards was something we expected but hoped wouldn’t happen and has with the introduction of the ban on transgenders.  And racism, something we new all to well was going to be present but that we hoped would be kept to its usual undercover hidden in plain sight form, has reared its head loud and proud above the surface like a cancerous lump protruding ever farther from the skin of american society.  

​As the moral lies that have been laid over the american foundation of cruelty have been pulled back one layer at a time we get to the truth of what it means to be an american.  A truth that has not changed since the founding of this nation.  To be an american is to be White first, foremost, and with the utmost importance.  As comments about shithole countries filled with brown and black people fly out of the white house, immigration policy changes have begun to take effect.  We spoke in a previous episode about immigration changes targeted at preventing immigration from Africa countries.  Now the Trump administration has begun a mandatory policy of separating children from parents at the border as a deterrent to keep people from trying to cross, and to make matter worse, they are losing chunks of the kids.  In addition to that they have immigration agents stationed ahead of checkpoints preventing people from reaching US soil and claiming asylum.    Of course these are almost always brown or black people.  During this episode of Lessons from the Screen we will be taking a closer look at some of these Human Rights Violations with a special emphasis on immigration.  As Black People, we should always pay extra close attention to how others are being treated because we know that what they will do to another group of people they will do to us.  And in this case, they have done it before. 

​The NFL has been in the news for the past 2 years but not for anything remotely related to the actual game.  Colin Kaepernick (regardless of how you feel about him or what he did, and a lot of people feel a lot of different ways) remained seated during the national anthem before a game back in 2016.  After doing it a few weeks in a row with the climate being what it was and largely still is regarding fanatical patriotism, intense nationalism, and racial division he was asked about it and his answer would set off an war between a segment of the players and the owners and the league and it’s fans, even the president of the united states would get involved.  

​Through all this turmoil the ESPN 30 for 30 series still going strong dropped another gem to line with all the other gems the series has produced.  In september of 2017 we got the Year of the Scab by John Dorsey.  A documentary about the 1987 player strike commonly known throughout sports history, the time the players agreed not to play and were replaced by substitutes pulled from all walks of life.  During this episode of Lessons from the Screen we will be looking at the documentary as well as making some comparisons between what was happening then and what is happening now.  As always we will talk about a few lessons that can be picked up from the film with regards to our current situation in this episode of Lessons from the Screen we will be looking at the Year of the Scab. 

​MoTown Is BACK!!!  Well the formula that they used to churn out supergroup after supergroup and hit after hit earning them the nickname of the hit factory is anyway. That formula involved taking a group of people each with a specific look, talent, and feel, putting them together and training them in all manner of performance arts, and having them perform songs specifically written for them by the most talented songwriters in the world.  The result of that formula is something we are all familiar with, an explosion of Black Music all over america, the successful crossing over to white audiences by many black bands, and an exponential growth in black contributions to the American Economy and cultural influence overseas through exporting Black Music and Black American Culture.