Good morning, good people! We had a nice mini-vacay in Galveston, and there were two highlights: Probate court was amazing. The deputy clerks are electronically connected to the County Clerk's office. The 2 documents required to be signed by the appointed executors are signed electronically, and immediately available for issuance of letters of authority for the executors to manage the affairs of the estate. What takes my small and poor county 3 business days to do only took Galveston County 10 minutes. Rain ruined certain planned tourist destination visits, but the dinner at Gaido's was one to remember. It is a seafood restaurant, awarded a James Beard Foundation Award for 2025, and I do not eat seafood, so I ordered a rib-eye. I rank it with the one I had at Delmonico's. Just off the charts delicious. One of the best steaks of my damn life.

The damnedest thing that ever happened in my travels around the world happened Tuesday night at 3am. The bathroom door locked us out. Staff came with just the right screwdriver to unlock it. The guy made some remark to the effect that "Well, this is one of those doors, huh?" If we ever stay there again, regardless of room number, the bathroom door will never be closed after we exit the room!

Japan's Rightward Leaning
Don't all nations revise history to fit their narrative? To some extent, yes. But no other country so deliberately erases its war criminals, recasting them as national heroes. Where does this lead? What is the next step? https://t.co/kNdr80T2V0 pic.twitter.com/DJwEkznROk

Happy Friday everyone. Welcome to Friday Night Photos your once a week escape from the day to day insanity of the world we live in. Post any photos, memes, music or whatever else you find of interest that helps tune out the madness.

Last Saturday I went to Oceanside for the Bodysurfing World Championships. I was hoping there would be some nice size waves but that wasn't to be. The ocean was pretty calm and the largest waves were no more than 1ft and mostly white water. I did get a few good shots but not enough to dedicate tonight's FNP to that subject alone so I decided to go with a variety pack tonight.

Black-tailed Prairie Dog

We're in Galveston for a mini-vacation and I slept in this morning. The internet is very dicey. I haven't had much time to think of anything to say today so I'll leave that up to you all. I may be incommunicado for most of the day.

I haven't been able to pinpoint the problem with the site slow downs even though I've tried everything. I hesitate to say anything about it because every time I do it comes back to haunt me. I haven't given up yet so hang in there.

This is an open thread, tell us what's going on in your world and ours.

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This from China Daily

Investment in social welfare to facilitate growth

Investment in public welfare is in line with the Government Work Report's emphasis
that "more funds and resources will be used to serve the people and meet their needs".

https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202503/27/WS67e4a4f4a3101d4e4dc2b168....

Media Soft-Balls

R.J. Eskow wrote an article for his newsletter, The Zero Hour Report, recently about the gentle language the media is using, now that it has to report about what is actually happening in Gaza. The piece is titled 'A Hell Made for the Innocent' with the subtitle 'Of monsters, media, and the gentle language of genocide'.

Cartoon from here.