@QMS I think I am two hours away from having my tax prep completed. What a miserable chore. Whatever will remain of the IRS will be the section that goes after the middle class. The Rich and the officially poor do not pay, only the unofficially poor do.
Ze and Trump seemed to have planned that rowdy exchange, and Vance had his moment to make a clear and valid point. Vance was the winner of the brawl.
Diplomacy does not equal bargaining for a real estate deal or negotiating a contract for a movie.
My red headed horse, Skipper, only bucked when he was running at full speed. Since he was a quarter horse with 7/16ths thbd, Secretariat's bloodline, that was a fast buck. He never stopped doing it.
I haven't glanced at any headlines today. I figure they will be the usual propaganda tropes. Propaganda is the most consistent government policy we have.
Smooth sailin', friend!

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Thanks for your weekly odds and ends. Always a pleasure.
Just finished-up our taxes for the accountant. Don't know
if the IRS is still functioning? No matter, life goes on.

Poor little Ze. Can't play with the big dogs.
on another note ..
Do they make red headed horses with attitude?

@Lookout All the local funerals seem to be my friends from high school. They are thinning out. Getting old does have its' sadness.
Our weather has swung from several days of freezing temps to highs in the 80s today. Throw in a lot of rain, that's east Texas right now. I have to check the forecast each night to plan my wardrobe for the following day.
For that reason, the 5 huge burn piles on the acreage can't catch a perfect, dry, no wind day to be lit.
The addition will be completed by Tuesday. Dear One will paint the interior and lay the indoor/outdoor carpet. Weather and illness caused a delay. The house painters will work this weekend. We have several projects for them afterwards.
Well, I just didn't imagine a Latino band in a heavily populated Latino area would bring out the fiesta attitude in that fancy, high end concert venue, but it did. I was tempted to get up and walk out. It was a miserable experience, a total waste of time and money. I felt horrible that I put Dear One through that.
Well, we don't seem to be getting closer to WWIII, so that's a very good thing, dear friend!

It has been beautiful weather this week, and today is no exception. At Trade Day I heard another old friend passed away. Happens more often these days as I age.

Sorry about the concert mishaps. Another sign of the times perhaps?

We had a busy week in the holler. Had a carpenter to help with a project one day, and a tree crew the rest of the week. I've got a pile of logs I hope to get sawn at some point in the future. Gravel coming in Monday, probably three loads. It is nice to make progress. Hope your addition is proceeding well.

Better get started on the chores for today. Y'all have a good one, and thanks for the OT!

@enhydra lutris Nice to know you were weeding while I was sleeping in! I had a very intense work week. That's what I get for representing a public official that a cabal is trying to get thrown out of office.
It was a small claims case to determine ownership of a dog, but the real intent was to implicate him in some scheme to use county funds to pay vet costs for a family member's dog shelter. All opposing witnesses attempted to say the private shelter was crooked. None of them had testimony of dog ownership. The Justice of the Peace is allowed to ask questions. All of them were about official records and expenditures. He was in on it. All witnesses on both sides testified my client had possession and control of the dog for more than 2 years. And we lost the case. Apparently possession, sheltering, providing all care and vet care for a dog for 2 1/2 years is just being a good neighbor, not dog ownership.
i have been a close friend of the JP since I was 15 years old. I am 72. I will never speak to him again. I am stunned and heart broken. I always believed him to be honest. I will not befriend a crook.
Make bread, break break, my friend! Glad the torch gets passed this week for the cooking chore!
As for the societal norms dissolving, I am unsure of its' inception, but can say the cultural differences reveal a stark difference in what is considered proper manners and public behavior. I see it in my office, in drs.' offices, in department stores, but was not expecting it in such a formal venue. Not fun to see 5 women auditioning for jobs as fucking pole dancers.
I will get over it. One day.
Have a wonderful weekend and I like hearing you are outside working, sounding like you have recovered from your health issues.
FWIW, the Pope sat up and drank coffee this morning. That has a real impact on my life. s/

week to the point that I finally weeded the garlic yesterday afternoon. Temps dropping today, rain predicted tonight and tomorrow, etc. Farmers' market this morning, a usual and leftovers tonight (manicotti stuffed with sausage, ricotta and spinach), and then my wife takes over cooking for a week except that it is time to make bread and its my turn for that. So, life goes on.

Sorry about the concert, but that is very much how people behave these days. The populace of the US has become increasingly inconsiderate of others for several decades now, I blame it on Reagan and the cumulative cultural impact of generation Reagan with a side of MAGA, all me, me, me.

Der Drumpf has betraywd liberal democracy, they keep saying, but neither Ukiestan nor the EU is a democracy, not even a so-called representative one, not that the US is either. That and hoourly updates on pope whatsisname, it's tiresome, I tell ya. Also seeming increase in propaganda about how evil China is mistreating pore ol' Taiwan. Ah well, can't fix it sobest to not stress unduly over it.

I've notices that there are no general purpose shoe stores any more amid a veritable explosion os specialty shoe stores that carry innumerable variations of sneakers, uggs and crocs. Is this nationwide, or just here?

be well and have a good one

@soryang I always wanted to tour SK. Not at present, however. Th!ose demonstrations resemble all the other bought and paid for demonstrations everywhere. Very few are non-orchestrated and spontaneous.
Well, just what SK needs: an NGO spearheaded by a real estate mogul. That should work out splendidly, amirite?
Thanks for the update on all things SK.
Have a wonderful weekend!

South Koreans marked the founding the republic of Korea from March 1, 1919, when a declaration of independence was read against the Japanese imperial rule, in Topgal Park in Seoul. There were numerous demonstrations against Japanese imperial rule throughout Korea that were violently suppressed. The Korean Provisional government marked its beginning from this date.

March First Movement

The protests began in Seoul, with public readings of the Korean Declaration of Independence in the restaurant Taehwagwan [ko] and in Tapgol Park. The movement grew and spread rapidly. Statistics on the protest are uncertain; there were around 1,500 to 1,800 protests with a total of around 0.8 to 2 million participants. The total population of Korea at the time was around 16 to 17 million.[8] Despite the peaceful nature of the protests, they were frequently violently suppressed. One Korean estimate in 1920 claimed 7,509 deaths and 46,948 arrests. Japanese authorities reported much lower numbers, although there were instances where authorities were observed destroying evidence, such as during the Jeamni massacre.[9] Japanese authorities then conducted a global disinformation campaign on the protests.[10] They promoted a wide range of narratives, including outright denial of any protests occurring,[11] portraying them as violent Bolshevik uprisings,[12][13] and claiming that Koreans were in need of the benevolent rule of Japan.[14][11][15] These narratives were publicly challenged by sympathetic foreigners and by the Korean diaspora.

Things haven't changed that much. Today any South Korean who isn't Japan friendly is labeled a communist sympathizer by the NGO network and their proxies and dupes in South Korea.

Along these lines I saw this from TK at the Blue Roof:

[New on TBR] USFK Denies Far-Right Fake News https://t.co/akZebNaxeJ

— The Blue Roof (@BluRoofPolitics) February 28, 2025

"Sky Daily" promoted the fake news story on the 99 Chinese spies which I have described earlier. The Blue Roof points out that Sky Daily has doubled down on the false reporting that the US seized Chinese spies on December 3, 2024, in this fabricated story of election tampering by the Chinese. What I learned from TK's report is that the Sinjeonchi religious cult is the sponsor of this publication. (Sincheonji = New Heaven and Earth). The leader of the cult Lee Man-hui claims to be the reincarnation of Christ on earth. The report concerning Chinese spies tampering with general elections is central to the mythology of Yoon's defense, the martial law effort, and the ongoing insurrection in South Korea.

A key coincidence is that Sinjeonchi and Lee man-hui were also pivotal in the spread of covid 19 in South Korea.

The Blue Roof also had a detailed breakdown of the Annie Chan link to a constellation of NGOs in South Korea supporting Yoon's coup attempt and this current defense, aka "Stop the Steal." TK also observed another link to the former Chun Doo-hwan dictatorship.

TBR Weekly Update: Week 3, February 2025

...The CPAC event was hosted by Korea Conservative Political Action Coalition (KCPAC), a group founded in 2019 by Annie Chan (or Kim Myeong-hye 김명혜), a Korean American real estate magnate in Hawaii. In a recent interview with Hankook Ilbo 한국일보, Chan said the impeachment of Park Geun-hye 박근혜 inspired her to be involved in South Korean politics. In addition to KCPAC, Chan has bankrolled several far-right groups in South Korea, such as Korea America Freedom & Security Policy 한미자유안보정책센터 and the Korea-US Alliance USA Foundation 한미동맹USA재단, that have built out an ecosystem to support far-right personalities and promote claims of election denial.

The president of KAFSP, for example, is former general Kim Jin-yeong 김진영, one of the closest allies of military dictator Chun Doo-hwan 전두환, who played a key role in Chun’s coup by quelling the resistance of General Jang Tae-wan 장태완, one of the few military leaders who stood against the coup. Chan has also directly donated significant sums of money to Jeon Gwang-hun 전광훈, the far-right pastor whose rabid weekly rallies have made him the de facto leader of South Korea’s conservatives. (See previous coverage, “Jeon Gwang-hun, the New King of the Right.”)

Earlier today (there is a fourteen hour time difference from Seoul to EST) tens of thousands of Jeon's followers and tens of thousands of candlelight demonstrators rallied in the streets of Seoul. Thousands of police mobilized to keep the pro and anti-impeachment demonstrators from directly confronting another. I estimate the cost of mobilizing 60,OOO demonstrators on the far right at about 6 million dollars US. Guess who is paying for it? I noticed in the video of the riot by street thugs at Ewha University the other day, the far right provocateurs were trying to induce the anti Yoon demonstrators to accept cash while several of them were hoping to get it on video. Needless to say, no one took the money. The fact that the far right demonstrators have been filmed taking cash at demos is something they know is hurting them. The whole operation reminds me of the Hong Kong demos. Not exactly a grass roots effort.

The candlelight anti-Yoon demonstrators mark modern Korea's birthday from March 1, 1919, not from US proxy Syngman Rhee's elevation to power in 1948 by the US military government. Modern Korean history didn't begin in August 1945 with the "liberation," nor did it begin on June 20, 1950, with the outbreak of the Korean War.

Thanks for the Odds & Ends OTC!

(edit- spelling and date, 1919)

@Anya @Anya post a video of their best table dancing to Bomboleo. With raised arms, pretending to be gypsies, guaranteeing we could not see the stage.
It is always great to hear from you, chica! Long time, no hear!
I hope all is well with you and that you have a fun weekend planned!

If you couldn’t get a good video of the Gipsy Kings, you should’ve at least got one of the tipsy women/Dear One argument. That would‘be been entertaining and maybe educational as well.