Afternoon Links: A Pro-Trump Trumpeter, Neil Young Dings Apple, and Dr. Phil’s Neighborhood

Wainwright actually kept his comments relatively brief and, by his standards, rather innocuous, saying he had refrained from political talk at shows in prior months but was “a little in shock over what happened last night,” a reference to the GOP tax plan that passed in Congress overnight. “It’s a call to arms,” Wainwright said. “We have to fight for this country.” Even before the short speech was finished, Laureano conspicuously rose up from his seat in the back row of the stage, swung his arm in an exasperated gesture, put his horn down and walked off toward a rear exit. Conductor Sarah Hicks and other members of the orchestra offered no visible reaction and carried on without him. Reached by phone Monday morning, Laureano explained he was already mad that Wainwright “mocked” the performance of “Cantique de Noël” earlier in the show, aka the original French version of “Oh Holy Night.” The singer made light of the awkward French-to-English literal translation of the song (he stuck to the French lyrics), and he seemed a tad put off to have to sing it at all, saying, “One of the requirements for this evening’s performance was I had to do a Christmas song.” The concert was sold amid this year’s holiday programming.” The evening was already too snarky,” Laureano said. So by the time Wainwright got around to the political talk, the trumpeter added, “It got incredibly self-indulgent.” “He’s an angry dude that seems to have life all figured out, not the kind of guy we need to look to for philosophy,” he said. “I found it to be beyond the pale of what that evening should be about. It’s a time of the year we’re supposed to all come together.”

A dispute between backyard neighbors that began 2½ years ago and grew into a national story not even Dr. Phil could get his head around landed in a courtroom last week, where it ended — at least temporarily — with little fanfare. Three cases were before the judge, all against Maritha Hunter-Butler and her now-wife, Melanie Anthony. The couple moved into The Manors at Glen Brook subdivision in May 2015 with Hunter-Butler’s three sons and four dogs. Two months after moving to the cul-de-sac of Brook Manor Court in an unincorporated part of west St. Charles County, Hunter-Butler was charged with punching one of her new neighbors in the face. Three months later, Anthony was charged with sexual misconduct. Prosecutors claim Anthony “exposed her genitals to her neighbors under circumstances in which she knew such conduct was likely to cause affront or alarm.”

The Commerce Department last week announced a “dumping” investigation into Chinese aluminum imports. That’s one more sign that the Trump Administration is heading toward a major escalation in trade conflict that would hurt Americans.Dumping investigations usually start when a company petitions the government, but Tuesday’s action was self-initiated, the first such case in 25 years. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told industry executives that this will accelerate the Administration’s fight against “dumped” goods. In October the Commerce Department imposed duties of 97% to 162% on Chinese-made aluminum foil.