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Chaos
Author: craigcrawford
Trail Mix Host. Lapsed journalist, author & retired pundit happily promoting nothing but the truth for Social Security checks.
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chaos? what’s that? the first Monday of daylight savings time that’s what it is.
be extra extra careful on the roadway today reportedly the worst day for accidents.
my chaos started here waking up an hour late, having to hurriedly trudge thru unexpected 4 inches of snow being dragged by Bu the wannabe Iditarod racer and spilling stuff all over the kitchen counter trying to get the morning coffee fix. oh well, now to face another day in crazy land made crazier by untimely clocks.
Jamie, yeah, that invite for Bernie to keynote wasn’t a good first step in the march, starting off on a left foot. also wondered about the date being day before holy week (starts with palm sunday and ends at easter as well as Passover) when many folks are already scheduled for special events and performances. most likely schools in fl taking breaks then I guess. still it’s chaos anytime you try to herd cats.
BiD, what must happen off mic was my thought too. lawsuit in the wings.
on devos, what exactly is behind the destroy public school crusade? dumb down the future voters? make more money for the millionaires? or just plain ole stupidity?
In five-billion years, as the Sun begins to die, its outer layers of glowing plasma will expand stupendously, engulfing the orbits of Mercury, then Venus, as the charred ember that was once the oasis of life called Earth vaporizes into the vacuum of space. Have a nice day!
weird sky and snow scene at dawn – almost cobalt blue and white or even a violent violet. looking at that spookiness this morning, Tyson’s “five-billion years” seem a bit optimistic.
and more on my morn of chaos, I forgot to mention the electricity outage during the night… so must re-reset the clocks. deja vous all over again
Mmmm – found the last of the holiday fruit cake. A testament to the power of fruit cake to not go bad and stay tasty after these several months. Comfort food and memories of sneaking a chunk when Grandma was not looking in the kitchen.
the guardian: Eminem attacks NRA in awards show performance: ‘They control the puppet” Eminem has continued his run of politically charged performances with an attack on the National Rifle Association during a set at the iHeartRadio Music awards in Inglewood, California.
Adding a new freestyle verse to his song Nowhere Fast, he rapped:
This whole country is going nuts, and the NRA is in our way They’re responsible for this whole production They hold the strings, they control the puppet And they threaten to take donor bucks So they know the government won’t do nothing and no one’s budging Gun owners clutching their loaded weapons They love their guns more than our children
The performance was introduced by Alex Moscou, one of the survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead. He said he and his fellow students were “tired of hearing politicians sending their thoughts and prayers to us, and doing nothing to make the necessary changes to prevent this tragedy from happening again”.
Eminem’s attack on the NRA comes after fellow rapper Common criticised them during a performance of Say Something at this year’s Academy Awards, saying: “Tell the NRA they in God’s way.”
The barely veiled reference to “puppet” Donald Trump is another of Eminem’s recent attacks on the president, both in performances of his awards-show freestyles Campaign Speech and The Storm, and in a Vulture interview in which he said Trump “makes my blood boil … I want our country to be great, too, I want it to be the best it can be, but it’s not going to be that with him in charge”.
Yeah… we are preparing for another northeaster. This has been one of the weirdest winters weather wise. Almost no snow to speak of Jan & Feb… lots of rain. Now we’re on the doorstep of spring and we are getting hammered. The skis areas are happy… most thought they’d be closing by this weekend. We’ve got lots of wood and pellets… and plenty of popcorn… we’ll be fine.
just got a response to my inquiry about sponsoring students for the march:
From: Michael Skolnik [mailto:michael.skolnik@marchforourlives.com]
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 10:22 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Sponsoring a student
Morning!
Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. There is a large group of students and their families from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who are coming from Parkland to Washington, DC for the march. They are still in need of funds to take care of all of the students and their families and we are helping them raise money for their trip. It would be wonderful if you were able to make a donation to help fund their trip.
The alumni association of the school is leading this effort and we have spoken with them many times and can confirm that money will go towards the trip.
“Caravan Of Fools”
The dark and distant drumming
The pounding of the hoops
The silence of everything that moves
Late in night you see them
Decked out in shiny jewels
The coming of the caravan of fools
Like the wings of a dove
The waiter’s white glove
Seem to shimmer by the light of the pool
Some dog-blinding winner
When you can’t help but lose
You’re running with the caravan of fools
Love and devotion
Deep as any ocean
Don’t play by anybody’s rules
With your carousel of horses
And your own foreseen forces
You’re running with the caravan of fools
Caravan of fools
Caravan of fools
You’re running with the caravan of fools
John is one of my favorites – has been since the early days – saw him in ’75 or ’76 in Tuscaloosa promoting his Common Sense album – a buddy of mine opened for him in the auditorium in the English building which was more of a theater than it sounds. Prine put on a great show considering he was drunk off his ass. Hit of the show was ” “Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard”. He was one funny MFer in his banter withthe audience and intros to his songs.
So I looked at the John Edwards prosecution for illegal campaign contributions and why it failed. They could not prove that mistress was paid for silence. But in the Stormy case it can be proved, thanks to the non disclosure agreement.
I love John Prine and one of my favorite country songs is Vince Gill’s “Some Things Never Get Old’ for two lines that are important to me about the sun going down in Mexico and “any song by brother John Prine”
One of the fun things of visiting sites which are for graduates of schools, such as classmates or alumni, is getting to reacquaint with long missed friends. The sad thing is going to the memorial pages and finding a classmate’s name. It can be very difficult to say goodbye some weeks, months, even years after their death. A few minutes ago I came across a friend’s name. No date of death. No cause of death. Nothing. Except he died.
Having been a friend, and even in contact into the 1990’s, leaves me wondering. Why the lack of information? Why?
But, having been a friend I think I have a clue. He was gay.
Sigh.
I hope to get in contact with his family and find out the truth. I hope it is not what I fear, but something common. Such as cancer, or AIDS, or even a heart attack. Very sad that you hope for the horrible cause of death rather than the possible. I hate having to exist in a country and world that hates you because you are gay or trans or bi.
I think the biggest lesson should be for the DNC not to recognize the jerk from VT as a Democrat. So far as tomorrow is concerned, Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh. Will Youngstown follow their example? FWIW, they’ve already gone Dem.
BB, what would Dear Abby say about satisfying your personal grief/anger at the expense of grieving family members? Hopefully their love for their son/sib never diminished because of his sexuality, but what if they are angry at what they believe was his risky behavior?
My friend from school ( we were together from kindergarten —> ) was gay. Growing up in small town ’70s was not easy for him, to say the least. Immediately after graduation he moved to a city.
In 1992 I heard from his father that Randy was coming home & he wanted to see me. Only myself & our friend, Peter. The other kids had been mean. When I saw Randy I was heartbroken: he had AIDS & was a walking skeleton. I did not know.
We had a good talk but even though it was July he was shivering. Said our Good Byes (which really were Good Byes, though neither of us admitted that) then he went back in his Father’s house. I walked home & cried my eyes out.
sjwny – it is hard to live in a community in which death is common. Whether from disease. Or from self inflicted means. It is hard. All of us have been to funerals or memorials for those who have died. This does not include those who have been killed. For trans people that is recounted in November at the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
I’ve just learned a young friend of ours died of a heroin overdose. He was a wonderful young man and we used to see him when we were out dancing. He always asked us old bats to dance and he was smooth. He was about 40 and had been an iv drug user for a long, long time and in and out of jail.
But I was always glad to see him and there will always be a little sharp pull of sadness when I look around the dance floor and realize Leon will never be there again.
So the Repugz on the House Intel Commie-tee dispute the CIA about Pute-y. Why? On the take or afraid they will end up like the soy & his daughter in the UK?(Which, could’ve been done to send a message to folks cooperating with Mueller.)
I just saw a clip or Chris Hayes’ show of SFB Jr. eating ice cream at (God save me) one of my favorite ice cream places – Sarris Chocolate in Canonsburg, PA. GREAT ice cream, btw.
Leon was lucky to have you & Mr Cracker in his life, KGC. You brought happiness to his life & vice versa. Isn’t this what we’re here for? Amazing how many people we touch, even if just fleetingly.
I think I was in my mid 30’s some where when I woke up and realized we are all mortal. Before that I just assumed life went on for ever , at least until you get old but that was too far out there to worry about. Here is what did it. a friend of mine that I had went to school with, Jim Wilson, stopped by my mothers place when I was down visiting one weekend. He needed some parts for his bike and I had some in my junk yard(yes I had a junk yard, it’s a hillbilly thing) and he wanted to dig around and see if anything would work. We talked awhile and caught up on things.
I didn’t come back down for 3 or 4 months and when I did Jim had died. It seems 30 somethings don’t get stomach cancer so the old country doc was treating his ulcers, By the time the doc realized his mistake it was too late. That is the one I remember, it just came out of the blue with no warning.
If he had been drunk and wrecked his bike, it would have been different.
I’ve been a John Prine fan since some time in the 70’s. At the time I was living in Westport in an old Victorian cut up into apartment. It was a party house and I was in my early 20’s and enjoying it. One of the residents introduce me to Prine and I’ve been a fan ever since.
Don’t know if I’ve told this story. But John Prine is one of the reasons Mrs Jack decided a crazy hillbilly might just be worth keeping. For some reason to do with neighborhood stuff she gave me a ride to a meeting. She put on a John Prine CD and I started to sing along. I think it was Saddle in the Rain. Seems my only competition had made fun of John Prine when she played it.
Sipping on some good Rum, got to thinking. New England got it’s start trading rum for slaves for molasses, the triangle trade that made Boston a major sea port. This whole country owes so much to the African slave.
Jack, when was that Jack-Mrs. Jack -John Prine song fest? If it was before 1982 I’ll bet you were singing along with a cassette.
I remember getting my 1st CD player and playing it through my stereo – high power amp, wonderful ESS speakers. The clarity of the highs and presence of the mids just blew me away. I believe my 1st CD was a Beethoven cd sometime around 1985or ‘86. When cd prices got below $20 (I seem to remember that LPs wee about $15 and cassettes were around $10 at the time) I started buying mostly CDs, although it cost slightly more than vinyl then- and until Sony made portable CD players that didn’t skip affordable my primary car music source was cassette tapes I had recorded from vinyl or CD. About 8 years ago I got my first iPod hand me down from LP. Still have a nano with around 1000 songs on it, icluding “complete” Beatles and Allman Brothers collections and a dozen or so “best of” albums. But now, other than Christmas music i pick up for Mrs. P I just download music to my ITunes account and play through my phone – Bluetoothed to the car. Hell, Mrs. P’s car doesn’t even have a CD player. I have to admit that I miss going to record stores and browsing the LP’s.
https://youtu.be/Huk2wIOFmi0
chaos? what’s that? the first Monday of daylight savings time that’s what it is.
be extra extra careful on the roadway today reportedly the worst day for accidents.
my chaos started here waking up an hour late, having to hurriedly trudge thru unexpected 4 inches of snow being dragged by Bu the wannabe Iditarod racer and spilling stuff all over the kitchen counter trying to get the morning coffee fix. oh well, now to face another day in crazy land made crazier by untimely clocks.
Jamie, yeah, that invite for Bernie to keynote wasn’t a good first step in the march, starting off on a left foot. also wondered about the date being day before holy week (starts with palm sunday and ends at easter as well as Passover) when many folks are already scheduled for special events and performances. most likely schools in fl taking breaks then I guess. still it’s chaos anytime you try to herd cats.
NK is keep Trump’s trip on the DL. I guess Kim is embarrassed to be seen with him, too.
Betsy D-student Vos, stranger to human decency and common sense. What a spectacular failure. That’s the nicest thing that can be said about her.
patD – That clip shows just how PERVasivness of that behavior. Imagine what happens off air.
Trump called Chucky T a “sleeping SOB.” I thought he was talking about Ben Carson.
BiD, what must happen off mic was my thought too. lawsuit in the wings.
on devos, what exactly is behind the destroy public school crusade? dumb down the future voters? make more money for the millionaires? or just plain ole stupidity?
I don’t think Tyson likes the time change … Either that or he is putting things in perspective.
Neil deGrasse TysonVerified account @neiltyson 38m38 minutes ago
More
In five-billion years, as the Sun begins to die, its outer layers of glowing plasma will expand stupendously, engulfing the orbits of Mercury, then Venus, as the charred ember that was once the oasis of life called Earth vaporizes into the vacuum of space. Have a nice day!
Hillary Clinton says ‘follow the money’ in the Trump-Putin ‘bromance’
Hillary in India. I guess she decided not to sit home and knit no matter what male media wanted her to do.
weird sky and snow scene at dawn – almost cobalt blue and white or even a violent violet. looking at that spookiness this morning, Tyson’s “five-billion years” seem a bit optimistic.
and more on my morn of chaos, I forgot to mention the electricity outage during the night… so must re-reset the clocks. deja vous all over again
Jamie, thanks for linking the india visit. me thinks “pimped whore” is more what she meant by that ‘follow the money’ in the Trump-Putin ‘bromance’
Mmmm – found the last of the holiday fruit cake. A testament to the power of fruit cake to not go bad and stay tasty after these several months. Comfort food and memories of sneaking a chunk when Grandma was not looking in the kitchen.
the guardian: Eminem attacks NRA in awards show performance: ‘They control the puppet”
Eminem has continued his run of politically charged performances with an attack on the National Rifle Association during a set at the iHeartRadio Music awards in Inglewood, California.
Adding a new freestyle verse to his song Nowhere Fast, he rapped:
The performance was introduced by Alex Moscou, one of the survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that left 17 people dead. He said he and his fellow students were “tired of hearing politicians sending their thoughts and prayers to us, and doing nothing to make the necessary changes to prevent this tragedy from happening again”.
Eminem’s attack on the NRA comes after fellow rapper Common criticised them during a performance of Say Something at this year’s Academy Awards, saying: “Tell the NRA they in God’s way.”
The barely veiled reference to “puppet” Donald Trump is another of Eminem’s recent attacks on the president, both in performances of his awards-show freestyles Campaign Speech and The Storm, and in a Vulture interview in which he said Trump “makes my blood boil … I want our country to be great, too, I want it to be the best it can be, but it’s not going to be that with him in charge”.
exactly this month two (2) years ago, pundits were also talking about nra absurdity, advocacy and avarice…. and the year before that and before that.
cbs coverage march 25 2016 of nra cartoons
Went to the zoo yesterday. Gorilla to busy with his phone to pay attention to us.
Chaos… where’s Maxwell Smart when ya need him!
Yeah… we are preparing for another northeaster. This has been one of the weirdest winters weather wise. Almost no snow to speak of Jan & Feb… lots of rain. Now we’re on the doorstep of spring and we are getting hammered. The skis areas are happy… most thought they’d be closing by this weekend. We’ve got lots of wood and pellets… and plenty of popcorn… we’ll be fine.
just got a response to my inquiry about sponsoring students for the march:
From: Michael Skolnik [mailto:michael.skolnik@marchforourlives.com]
Sent: Monday, March 12, 2018 10:22 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Sponsoring a student
Morning!
Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. There is a large group of students and their families from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who are coming from Parkland to Washington, DC for the march. They are still in need of funds to take care of all of the students and their families and we are helping them raise money for their trip. It would be wonderful if you were able to make a donation to help fund their trip.
The alumni association of the school is leading this effort and we have spoken with them many times and can confirm that money will go towards the trip.
You can make a donation here:
http://mobilizingmsdalumni.org/msd-dc-travel/
Kindly,
Michael
Michael Skolnik
Partnerships, March For Our Lives
Always worth a listen: Brother John Prine
John is one of my favorites – has been since the early days – saw him in ’75 or ’76 in Tuscaloosa promoting his Common Sense album – a buddy of mine opened for him in the auditorium in the English building which was more of a theater than it sounds. Prine put on a great show considering he was drunk off his ass. Hit of the show was ” “Come Back To Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard”. He was one funny MFer in his banter withthe audience and intros to his songs.
Chaos… where’s Maxwell Smart when ya need him!
STURG!!
So I looked at the John Edwards prosecution for illegal campaign contributions and why it failed. They could not prove that mistress was paid for silence. But in the Stormy case it can be proved, thanks to the non disclosure agreement.
I love John Prine and one of my favorite country songs is Vince Gill’s “Some Things Never Get Old’ for two lines that are important to me about the sun going down in Mexico and “any song by brother John Prine”
https://youtu.be/td-Dgkn6dfA
If Dem who vows to oppose Pelosi as next Speaker wins tomorrow isn’t that a lesson to others in midterm races?
One of the fun things of visiting sites which are for graduates of schools, such as classmates or alumni, is getting to reacquaint with long missed friends. The sad thing is going to the memorial pages and finding a classmate’s name. It can be very difficult to say goodbye some weeks, months, even years after their death. A few minutes ago I came across a friend’s name. No date of death. No cause of death. Nothing. Except he died.
Having been a friend, and even in contact into the 1990’s, leaves me wondering. Why the lack of information? Why?
But, having been a friend I think I have a clue. He was gay.
Sigh.
I hope to get in contact with his family and find out the truth. I hope it is not what I fear, but something common. Such as cancer, or AIDS, or even a heart attack. Very sad that you hope for the horrible cause of death rather than the possible. I hate having to exist in a country and world that hates you because you are gay or trans or bi.
I think the biggest lesson should be for the DNC not to recognize the jerk from VT as a Democrat. So far as tomorrow is concerned, Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh. Will Youngstown follow their example? FWIW, they’ve already gone Dem.
BB, what would Dear Abby say about satisfying your personal grief/anger at the expense of grieving family members? Hopefully their love for their son/sib never diminished because of his sexuality, but what if they are angry at what they believe was his risky behavior?
What business would the Secret Service have at a polling place unless someone they were guarding was voting?
Blue Bronc,
My condolences on the death of your friend.
My friend from school ( we were together from kindergarten —> ) was gay. Growing up in small town ’70s was not easy for him, to say the least. Immediately after graduation he moved to a city.
In 1992 I heard from his father that Randy was coming home & he wanted to see me. Only myself & our friend, Peter. The other kids had been mean. When I saw Randy I was heartbroken: he had AIDS & was a walking skeleton. I did not know.
We had a good talk but even though it was July he was shivering. Said our Good Byes (which really were Good Byes, though neither of us admitted that) then he went back in his Father’s house. I walked home & cried my eyes out.
He died that October. He was 29 years old.
sjwny – it is hard to live in a community in which death is common. Whether from disease. Or from self inflicted means. It is hard. All of us have been to funerals or memorials for those who have died. This does not include those who have been killed. For trans people that is recounted in November at the Transgender Day of Remembrance.
I’ve just learned a young friend of ours died of a heroin overdose. He was a wonderful young man and we used to see him when we were out dancing. He always asked us old bats to dance and he was smooth. He was about 40 and had been an iv drug user for a long, long time and in and out of jail.
But I was always glad to see him and there will always be a little sharp pull of sadness when I look around the dance floor and realize Leon will never be there again.
So the Repugz on the House Intel Commie-tee dispute the CIA about Pute-y. Why? On the take or afraid they will end up like the soy & his daughter in the UK?(Which, could’ve been done to send a message to folks cooperating with Mueller.)
I just saw a clip or Chris Hayes’ show of SFB Jr. eating ice cream at (God save me) one of my favorite ice cream places – Sarris Chocolate in Canonsburg, PA. GREAT ice cream, btw.
Leon was lucky to have you & Mr Cracker in his life, KGC. You brought happiness to his life & vice versa. Isn’t this what we’re here for? Amazing how many people we touch, even if just fleetingly.
I think I was in my mid 30’s some where when I woke up and realized we are all mortal. Before that I just assumed life went on for ever , at least until you get old but that was too far out there to worry about. Here is what did it. a friend of mine that I had went to school with, Jim Wilson, stopped by my mothers place when I was down visiting one weekend. He needed some parts for his bike and I had some in my junk yard(yes I had a junk yard, it’s a hillbilly thing) and he wanted to dig around and see if anything would work. We talked awhile and caught up on things.
I didn’t come back down for 3 or 4 months and when I did Jim had died. It seems 30 somethings don’t get stomach cancer so the old country doc was treating his ulcers, By the time the doc realized his mistake it was too late. That is the one I remember, it just came out of the blue with no warning.
If he had been drunk and wrecked his bike, it would have been different.
Jack
I’ve been a John Prine fan since some time in the 70’s. At the time I was living in Westport in an old Victorian cut up into apartment. It was a party house and I was in my early 20’s and enjoying it. One of the residents introduce me to Prine and I’ve been a fan ever since.
Don’t know if I’ve told this story. But John Prine is one of the reasons Mrs Jack decided a crazy hillbilly might just be worth keeping. For some reason to do with neighborhood stuff she gave me a ride to a meeting. She put on a John Prine CD and I started to sing along. I think it was Saddle in the Rain. Seems my only competition had made fun of John Prine when she played it.
Jack
Or maybe it was Sweet Revenge, Saddle in the Rain is much harder to sing along.
Jack
Sipping on some good Rum, got to thinking. New England got it’s start trading rum for slaves for molasses, the triangle trade that made Boston a major sea port. This whole country owes so much to the African slave.
Jack
Jack, when was that Jack-Mrs. Jack -John Prine song fest? If it was before 1982 I’ll bet you were singing along with a cassette.
I remember getting my 1st CD player and playing it through my stereo – high power amp, wonderful ESS speakers. The clarity of the highs and presence of the mids just blew me away. I believe my 1st CD was a Beethoven cd sometime around 1985or ‘86. When cd prices got below $20 (I seem to remember that LPs wee about $15 and cassettes were around $10 at the time) I started buying mostly CDs, although it cost slightly more than vinyl then- and until Sony made portable CD players that didn’t skip affordable my primary car music source was cassette tapes I had recorded from vinyl or CD. About 8 years ago I got my first iPod hand me down from LP. Still have a nano with around 1000 songs on it, icluding “complete” Beatles and Allman Brothers collections and a dozen or so “best of” albums. But now, other than Christmas music i pick up for Mrs. P I just download music to my ITunes account and play through my phone – Bluetoothed to the car. Hell, Mrs. P’s car doesn’t even have a CD player. I have to admit that I miss going to record stores and browsing the LP’s.