62 thoughts on “Sunday Serendipity”

  1. thanks, Jack. here’s more scenic music for black history month from an african-american composer, Florence Price.
    Florence Price – Wikipedia

    Florence Beatrice Price (nĆ©e Smith; April 9, 1887 ā€“ June 3, 1953) was an American classical composer, pianist, organist and music teacher.[2] Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Price was educated at the New England Conservatory of Music, and was active in Chicago from 1927 until her death in 1953. Price is noted as the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a major orchestra.[3] Price composed over 300 works: four symphonies, four concertos, as well as choral works, art songs, chamber music and music for solo instruments. In 2009, a substantial collection of her works and papers was found in her abandoned summer home.


    Mississippi Suite, Florence Price, The Women’s Philharmonic

  8. Wonder why they re-named Ft Bragg after NYā€™s Alvin Bragg, the guy who convicted Stump of all those felony charges. Just weird how they do stuff.

  11. jaimie,
    maybe remind them of this while they’re at it

    Budapest Memorandum – Wikipedia

    The Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances comprises three substantially identical political agreements signed at the OSCE conference in Budapest, Hungary, on 5 December 1994, to provide security assurances by its signatories relating to the accession of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). The three memoranda were originally signed by three nuclear powers: Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom.[1] China and France gave somewhat weaker individual assurances in separate documents.[2]

    The memoranda, signed in Patria Hall at the Budapest Convention Center with U.S. Ambassador Donald M. Blinken amongst others in attendance,[3] prohibited Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom from threatening or using military force or economic coercion against Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, “except in self-defence or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.” As a result of other agreements and the memorandum, between 1993 and 1996, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine gave up their nuclear weapons.[4][5]

    […]

    According to the three memoranda,[6] Russia, the US and the UK confirmed their recognition of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine becoming parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and effectively removing all Soviet nuclear weapons from their soil, and that they agreed to the following:

    Respect the signatory’s independence and sovereignty in the existing borders (in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act).[7]

    Refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of the signatories to the memorandum, and undertake that none of their weapons will ever be used against these countries, except in cases of self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.

    Refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine, the Republic of Belarus and Kazakhstan of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind.

    Seek immediate Security Council action to provide assistance to the signatory if they “should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used”.

    Not to use nuclear weapons against any nonā€“nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, except in the case of an attack on themselves, their territories or dependent territories, their armed forces, or their allies, by such a state in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state.[5]:ā€Š169ā€“171ā€Š[8][9]

    Consult with one another if questions arise regarding those commitments.[10][11]

  12. If heā€™s going to channel Napoleon he might want to look into how that ended.
    Of course he donā€™t ā€œlook intoā€ stuff much.

  13. Query: If this idiot causes Russia to team up with the USA to go to war against Ukraine and Europe where will China fall in?

  14. THIS IS NOT ABOUT SHRINKING GOVERNMENT.
    IT’S ABOUT MAKING IT MAGA.

    Replacing fired federal workers with MAGA loyalists is the next step, the one we won’t hear so much about. “Institutionalizing Trumpism” is the ultimate goal, a Project 2025 architect, Kevin Roberts, once said.

    Toward that end Trump’s team has been accepting online job applications for several years at Project 2025’s Presidential Personnel Database (“Want to be considered for positions in a presidential Administration? Submit your resume today”). The questionnaire with the application is designed to ensure only Trump loyalists apply.

    Those accepted were then admitted to the secretive “Presidential Training Academy” where they learn how to impose the Trump agenda at the federal agency where they end up. Fourteen hours of training videos obtained by ProPublica “coach future appointees on everything from the nuts and bolts of governing to how to outwit bureaucrats”.

    Before Trump’s inauguration more than 20,000 MAGA-certified job seekers were compiled in a growing database to be used to replace fired workers.

    In other words, this isn’t about shrinking the federal government at all. It’s about making it Trump’s kingdom.

    — by Craig Crawford

  17. It was never about the price of eggs.
    It was never about cutting government spending.

    Democrats are still trying to play by the rules.
    There are no rules.

  18. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-lists/politics-politics-lists-worst-people-trump-orbit-second-term-1235158719-1235158719/

    ā€œTHE 12 WORST PEOPLE IN TRUMPā€™S ORBITā€

    ā€œVought, who calls himself a Christian nationalist, was previously director of the Office of Management and Budget under Trump. He has long been plotting out plans for a radically right-wing second Trump administration obsessed with imposing its will; co-authored Project 2025, the notorious agenda project led by the Heritage Foundation; and was policy director for the Republican National Conventionā€™s official platform committee. Vought, who wrote in 2022 that Americans ā€œare living in a post-Constitutional time,ā€ was the subject of a hidden video sting this summer, and some of his recent think-tank speeches were leaked as well. Some notable items: Vought said he was spending 80 percent of his time on plans ā€œto take control of these bureaucracies,ā€ and he specifically wants to put government workers ā€œin trauma.ā€ He wants to defund the Environmental Protection Agency. Vought says he is helping plan out ā€œhow the deportation would work,ā€ and thinks mass deportations could ā€œsave the country.ā€ Heā€™s ready to destroy ā€œagenciesā€™ notion of independence.ā€ He wants Trumpā€™s administration to deploy the military in the U.S. to ā€œshut down the riotsā€ (i.e., protests), and said that the 2020 George Floyd protests would have been a good opportunity to do so. Heā€™s likely to have a senior role.ā€ ā€”NL

    I posted this article months ago. Notice the ā€œpost-Constitutionalā€ statement.

    Military, are you ā€œpost-Constitutionalā€ now, too? Zero benefits for you down the road. Look at whatā€™s happening to vets.

    Hackers who could shut down MuskRat, where are you?

    Tomorrow, protests in all states.
    February 28th, buying blackout.
    General strike to come.

    Canada & Mexico will trade with each other and bypass the US, shipping around us.

    Those hockey fights last night were something else. More to come. Canadians hate us. Hell, I hate most of us.

  20. End game: China gets all Pacific nations & Australia/New Zealand

    Russia gets Eastern Europe.

    USofA becomes just ā€œAmerica,ā€ and includes Canada, Mexico, Central America, and eventually South America.

    India and Africa are on the table, but will be used for resources, human or mineral resources until they are exhausted.

  21. There will be no economic growth. You just three tens of thousands into unemployment. The unemployed donā€™t spend money. That will hurt local businesses. Our economy is powered by consumer spending.

    To go along with the resurgence of old-timey diseases, welcome back depressed economy.

    Make the Depression Great Again

  23. yesterday’s episode in our soap opera “as the worm turns” in case you missed it:
    Elon Musk’s Estranged Daughter Says She Learned About Her New Sibling, the CEO’s 13th Baby, Through Social Media

    […]

    Musk, 53, has welcomed 13 children with four different women over a 20-year span: Nevada, Vivian, Griffin, Kai, Saxon, Damian, X Ɔ A-12, Exa, Strider, Azure and Techno, plus two others whose names have not been shared publicly.

    He became a father in 2002, when his ex-wife, Justine Wilson, welcomed their son Nevada, who tragically died at 10 weeks old. The two went on to have five more children, twins Vivian and Griffin and triplets Kai, Saxon and Damian.

    In 2020, two years after Musk and Grimes were first linked, the two announced they welcomed their first child, X Ɔ A-12, together, and the former couple also share two more children, a girl, Exa Dark SiderƦl, and a boy, Techno Mechanicus.

    A few weeks prior to the arrival of his second child with Grimes, 36, the tech CEO also secretly fathered twins, Strider and Azure, with Shivon Zilis, an executive at one of his companies, Neuralink, in November 2021, according to court documents published by Insider. The pair then welcomed a third child, whose name has not been revealed, in early 2024.

    St. Clair said in a post on X on Friday, Feb. 14, that she and Musk have a child together.

    “Five months ago, I welcomed a new baby into the world. Elon Musk is the father. I have not previously disclosed this to protect our child’s privacy and safety, but in recent days it has become clear that tabloid media intends to do so, regardless of the harm it will cause,” read her announcement.

    “I intend to allow our child to grow in a normal and safe environment,” continued St. Clair, who has been an outspoken supporter of conservative ideologies. “For that reason, I ask that the media honor our child’s privacy, and refrain from invasive reporting.”

    A day later, St. Clair publicly urged Musk in a now-deleted reply on X to “finish their agreement” when it comes to co-parenting.

    Read the original article on People

  24. thanks Jack!

    I watched that hockey game last night…. didn’t really care who won.
    America did. Been talking a bit on FB with Canadian cousins… yeah… they really hate America right now. I don’t blame them. At least they tell me they still love me…. especially because I hate trump as much as they do.

  27. renee, just saw on local news this a.m. that the newly announced bottom least ed states are indiana, kentucky and west virginia. perhaps we should also change the name of the Ohio River to Rivulet of Brain Drain to go along with the renamed gulf.

  29. Imagine a woman had kids with 4 men, most out of wedlock. Yeah, that wouldnā€™t fly in MAGAtLand, but itā€™s a misogynistic cult at its core. White women are only good for one thing, and then they become worthless. JD Vance even said that last part out loud.

    Does anyone think that if Don-Old ate one too many cheeseberderz, that nobody would follow JD? That even thought there are tentpoles holding up this terrible worldview, that nobody would follow JD. There would be a struggle and theyā€™d all punch each other in the face to be the headā€¦and nobody would follow them the way they follow Russian Agent Orange.

  32. Strange things in the mush of sfb happen, one is geography. I did not know Australia was in Mexico and San Fransisco Airport was on the border.

    A 25-year-old Australian woman was arraigned on drug trafficking charges in San Mateo County after she was allegedly found with 44 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in her checked luggage at San Francisco International Airport. San Fransisco Chronicle

  36. https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/world/2025/02/16/russia-ukraine-war/78874431007/

    ā€œ A Ukrainian delegation has arrived in Saudi Arabia for meetings in preparation for a possible visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a Ukrainian minister said Sunday, at a time of intense speculation over planned U.S.-Russia talks in the kingdom to end Moscowā€™s war on its neighbor.ā€

    ā€œIt also comes as a top U.S. envoy revealed that he and a fellow negotiator appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump were heading to Saudi Arabia.ā€

  37. Yeah, a bullet almost got him. LoL! So much red water for an ear wound. No scar. No trauma from being shit at. No info on the others in the audience. No long follow-up in the patsy who shot into the audience. He never intended to hit Adolf, but to make him look like a victim. This story went away very quickly, as did the family of the guy who died because they had to make it look good. Not sure Elon didnā€™t steal the election, either. Ah, but it wouldnā€™t matter because MAGAts wouldā€™ve attacked the Capitol, again, if the outcome wouldā€™ve been for Harris. This timeline was fixed.

    Best chances we have are for factions on the far-right to eat each other; Dem wins in special elections; boycotts and general strikes; hackers who hate (F)Elon; thoughts & prayers.

  39. If we are ā€œpost-Constitutional,ā€ as Russell Vought said, then laws do not apply to us, either.

    F&ck You Russian Warship! (Yes, the tRUMPsky administration has committed war against the American people.)

  40. https://apnews.com/article/trump-brian-kemp-hurricane-helene-biden-75ed7f49ffd1a9b07ba82e18abecaa47

    October, 2024: ā€œAfter making up privately, Donald Trump and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp used the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to put their dĆ©tente on public display, with the former president praising a fellow Republican he blistered just months ago and promising to treat the state well if he returns to the White House.ā€

    FA
    ***

    https://www.11alive.com/article/news/politics/trump-administration-denies-extension-hurricane-relief-georgia/85-bb8fc79d-a064-4e31-a460-c034b1266f11

    February, 2025: ā€œIn a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, The Federal Emergency Management Agency states, “It has been determined that the increased level of funding you have requested…is not warranted.”

    FO
    ***

    So, when I called Senators to remind them that they have a short shelf life because dictators donā€™t need a legislature (nor a judiciary), they should pay attention. ps – My number has been blocked. LoL Not hearing it doesnā€™t mean it wonā€™t happen, you Republican asshats.

  43. ā€œIn a sweeping and unprecedented letter issued over the weekend, the Office for Civil Rights declared race-based scholarships, cultural centers and even graduation ceremonies illegal.ā€

    Spiteful whites donā€™t want blacks to have anything of their own, even when the whites donā€™t want to participate

  45. iā€™m saying this to my fellow politically minded folks here- the messaging going forward needs to emphasize how whiny and fragile these white supremacists are

    spoiled whiny little boys with beards and shitty haircuts

    ā€man up, you whiny bitchesā€

    they cry about everything

  46. Godā€™s like ā€œfuck Corey Comperatore and his familyā€

    also appreciates good stage-craft

    traumatizing that manā€™s daughter was a part of His plan

    the trumpers cheered as one of their own bled out in front of them, we handed then them the country

    šŸ¤®

  55. I hated the noise, confusion and chaos of kindergarten so much I was happy to get measles, chicken pox and mumps one after the other. Missed the whole mish mash, went straight to first grade.

  56. My two children literally exchanged chicken pox, measles and flu and after getting through, they kindly handed their exhausted mother a 104 degree level flu. it was not fun. These anti-vac people are nuts.

  57. After watching a 30 degree temperature plunge and rain turn to a frozen windshield Iā€™m up to my ears in SNL 50th. Just over 2/3 of my lifeā€™s Saturday nights. Good shit.

    BTW, Sturg, after rebuilding an 8ā€™ pantry that after 20 years told me that 30 or so pounds of expired foodstuffs in jars from Marshallā€™s and TJMax were enough, I REALLY appreciate quality cabinetry.

    Oh, and thank you Kroger for BOGO Talenti and other ice cream.

  58. My step-mom sent me to school with chicken pox. They sent me home & I was scared to go back home.
    Not sure where I got chicken pox, but I gave them to my 1st grade class, and my dad who got them really badly.

  59. McCartney will catch shit for his performance. Fuck those who criticize him.

    As he said, ā€œAnd in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.ā€

    BTW, I loved the 50th special. Canā€™t imagine a more fitting final act.

  61. That was an amazing 50th anniversary show. The SNL concert that live-streamed on Peacock on Friday was outstanding, as well.

Comments are closed.

Join the Trail Mix

Get an alert when Craig goes live, and the link when our Open Thread heats up.