Afternoon folks!

We've got some serious blues this week with Harmonica George Smith doing a tribute album to Little Walter and an album by Lightnin' Hopkins playing both guitar and some piano too. There are albums by soul artist Al Green and New Orleans r&b musician Chris Kenner. There's some blues-rock with the Yardbirds and Omar & The Howlers. This week we've got a bunch of prog-rock with Be Bop Deluxe and Curved Air and a truly odd album probably in the avante-garde category with French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson.

Enjoy!

So here's a theory: they're doing this, raising interest rates and such, because they want to plow all of that money they were gifted from Congress into real estate, and the real estate prices are too high at this time:

Since the primary article for this news story appeared on the Bezos Post, you get to read it through an ABC affiliate:

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso

I have mentioned in the past my original visit to China was to explore the use of herbs in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Herbs were part of the curriculum at collage and I was co-writing articles with an Herbalist. It was the late 1980's and there were severe restrictions on providing information regarding herbal treatments to the general public. Language needed to be very specific to avoid consequences. Some physicians were being disciplined for using vitamin therapy in their practices. Remember a state of Washington physician's office raid by federal officers was attributed to giving injectable vitamin B shots to patients.

In 1994 a grassroots campaign for "health freedom" the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act was passed. The alternative treatment industry growth exploded as more treatment modalities and information became available to the general public. Market abuses yes, harm to some individuals yes, but in my opinion outweighed by healthful trends in selfcare.

Happy Friday everyone. Post any photos, memes, or music you like.

I went to the Zoo yesterday morning. After rain of biblical proportions for the better part of the last month I wanted to make sure it had not floated away. I'm happy to report that the zoo did not float away, but the bearded gentleman in the robes building an ark out front seemed disappointed that the rain had stopped and that was really going to mess up his departure schedule.

Leopard

Sima made me think of using a donkey as a guardian for her goats. Coyotes killing your livestock is traumatic. Right across the highway from my home is a guy who raises them, sells them to ranchers to protect their cattle herds. Coyotes trying to kill a little calf stand no chance against a bad ass donkey.