Stepping out of the forest to see all the trees.
Jeffery Sachs Tik Tok video Sunday (H/T Lookout @ Weekly Watch) was a great summation of U.S. aggression and looking at all the trees. It's hard not to see the foolish missteps and rank incompetence pulling at the levers of power in America.

Will this term be better, worse, or about the same as his first term? My guess is the latter. In the words of John Prine, "Pretty good, not bad, I can't complain but actually, everything is just about the same". My hope is he pivots from global domination to domestic development, and focuses on this country. One thing's for sure, I'm glad that Biden, Blinky, Jake the Snake, and the rest of that disastrous administration is out of office. However, administrations come and go, but the oligarchs largely remain the same. Meanwhile we have raging fires in the west, a colossal unpayable national debt, and a tentative ceasefire in Gaza. More domestic and global news below the fold...

Afternoon folks!

There's some outstanding blues this week! Starting off with an album from Robert Lockwood Jr, followed by a compilation of Chicago blues from Lacy Gibson, Big Leon Brooks and Andrew Brown. After that, we're officially old school with a compilation of jug band music - great stuff, don't miss it! Then we've got some serious r&b with Hank Ballard & The Midnighters, followed by Tracy Nelson. Finishing up we've got some country-flavored music with The Desert Rose Band and Rodney Crowell.

Enjoy the tunes and have a great weekend!

Several years ago, we went to Port Arthur to see the Janis Joplin exhibit in the Gulf Coast Museum.

They had a great shop with all kinds of tee shirts, souvenirs,and a big selection of books. I bought a book entitled, "The Texas Hysterical Society"authored by the head of the society, James E. Gaskin. I never seem to have time to read books anymore, but have delved into it for maybe 2 chapters.

Some quotes and factoids I wish to share:

"I do not fight downhill" --Sam Houston, #1 Honorary Texan [first Texas President] Said by six foot plus tall Sam when challenged to a duel by five foot one inch David Burnet.

*Sam is buried 30 miles away. He signed a treaty with the Natives 1 mile away. Monument is on private property. I played his wife's piano in his museum in his museum in Huntsville, Texas.

"If I am in a suit, somebody better be in a casket."---The Old Cowboy

"There are no traffic jams on the extra mile." --Roger Staubach, Dallas Cowboys quarterback, whom I met in Houston in a restaurant.

"The California crunch (energy fu) really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants. --- George W. Bush, Honorary Texan.

Willie Nelson got a special shout out for Red Headed Stranger kicking off Outlaw Country Music, my favorite country genre.

41 seconds of who knew?:

I'm still working on the site upgrade. It's been an eye opening experience to say the least. Things are much different in the Drupal community from when I built this site ten years ago.

I've learned about how a bunch of developers can ruin perfectly fine open source software for, IMHO, their personal gain. Anyway, I'll write more about that later.

Placone Says It Perfectly

Ron Placone recently posted a farewell letter to Joe Biden. He says most everything I've been thinking perfectly, so I thought I'd post it here and let others have a read. He first writes about the good things Biden (or ByeDone ) did: appointing Lina Khan, for instance, and finally delivering a net neutrality FCC after a 3 year wait. And that's about it... Ohh yea, there's the drilling ban he just instituted, which Trump'll overturn immediately. So that's another good thing! Right? And yet it's really just another fake positive act in our country's political theater; an act which means nothing in reality, no matter which 'side' does it.

Cartoon by Patrick Chappatte, 5 Dec 2024, from www.chappatte.com, for the Boston Globe.