Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Monday, September 23, 2024
Sunday, September 22, 2024
Saturday, September 21, 2024
Friday, September 20, 2024
Andy Williams with the Osmond Brothers: "Good Morning Starshine"
As a kid I had a transistor radio. Good grief, but that statement dates me! Do any of you younguns even know what a transistor radio was? The reception and sound quality weren't great, but that wasn't the point. The point was, you could take your music with you wherever you went. And I did, the wrist strap wrapped firmly around my wrist.
...all of which is preface. One day, not long after my illness, I was listening to my beloved transistor when this record came on. I absolutely loved it. Don't recall what comment I made to Mom, but she bought me the cassette issue of the album, _Get Together with Andy Williams_. Eventually wore it out, I played it so much.
Thursday, September 19, 2024
Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Not only beautiful, Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night"fits models of atmospheric and fluid dynamics
A new study finds that "Starry Night," painted by Dutch Post-Impressionist Vincent Van Gogh in 1889, perfectly fits current models of atmospheric and fluid dynamics.
Study author Dr. Huang Yongxiang said, "It [the painting] reveals a deep and intuitive understanding of natural phenomena. Van Gogh’s precise representation of turbulence might be from studying the movement of clouds and the atmosphere or an innate sense of how to capture the dynamism of the sky.”
I have always loved "Starry Night." This scientific study only serves to deepen my awe at Van Gogh's talent and insight.
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Saturday, September 14, 2024
Friday, September 13, 2024
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Honesty Chez Catreona
Honesty, also called Money Plant or Silver Dollar Plant, is a flowering plant in the cabbage and mustard family native to central and southern Europe. Introduced to England in the late Sixteenth Century, soon after Honesty came to our shores with the Pilgrims.
It thrives in moist, partially shaded locations. In late Spring into Summer, the plant blooms with a profusion of dark pink flowers. At this time of year, the flowers have given way to paper-thin seed pods that take on a silver sheen as they dry.
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Kamala Harris wins debate, Taylor Swift endorses her moments later
Thank you, Madame Vice President, for a first class debate performance. And thank you, Taylor, for a thoughtful and eloquent statement of endorsement.
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Monday, September 09, 2024
Early Autumn
The sweet and melow voice of Jo Stafford with "Early Autumn" from her 1955 album Soft and Sentimental.
Vance for VP? Hell No!
My latest meme. I seem to be drawn to highlight Vance's, er, negative points. Well, that's okay. People with a lot more brain power and talent than I are working on Trump.
As always, feel free to share this one if you think it might help.
Sunday, September 08, 2024
Faith and Justice Matter to Harris and Walz
Amid all the discussion of the Harris-Walz campaign's wide and warm inclusiveness, till now I had heard nothing about faith-based outreach and inclusion. But, unsurprisingly, this well organized, disciplined and focused campaign is on it. At the end of August Sojourners published an article about Rev. Jen Butler, the campaign's faith outreach director. True to form, they got the best.
A veteran of the Obama administration as well as many years of organizing and interfaith discourse, Rev. Butler is a solid addition to the stellar Harris-Walz organization.
Saturday, September 07, 2024
Wildlife Chez Catreona
When they went out yesterday morning, Dad and Sis spotted a large praying mantis on the back bumper of the car. It sat for its portrait before, with a little encouragement from Dad, it flew off into the grass.
You never know what you might see in the wilds of Springfield! I'm not a bug fancier myself, but some readers may find it interesting.
You’ve probably noticed…
You’ve probably noticed, the blog has a fresh, new look, not to mention a new title.
I’ve been struggling for a couple weeks - that felt like a couple eons - to alter the source code for the blog’s template. But, ahem, every time I tried another idea that seemed like it would be the charm, the mess only got worse. Finally, I gave up and set a new Blogger template. And being new, unlike the previous one that was ancient as such things go, this one was fully customizable. Phew!
Can’t think why it took me so long to come around to the completely logical decision to apply a new template, except that I do tend to be change-averse. When I think how much time and angst I could have saved myself by exploring the current Blogger template set! Sometimes I’m not too bright. * igh*
As to the new title: At the time I founded the blog, The Arty Blog seemed appropriate. Now, though, something broader and more inclusive is called for. Life, the Universe and Everything isn’t the most original title. It fits the bill though.
Let me know what you think of all the changes.
September Morn
A sad song and, yes, I know it's a Neil Diamond [click] song. But Engelbert does a beautiful job with it.
Happy Saturday!
Friday, September 06, 2024
RIP Sergio Mendes
Master of the bossa nova, Brazilian musician and bandleader Sergio Mendes has died at the age of eighty-three.
Thank you for all the wonderful music, Sergio. Rest in Peace.
After police caution, father gave suspected Georgia school shooter AR-15
Who gives their thirteen or forteen-year-old an AR15 for Christmas? To my mind, that in itself constitutes child abuse.
I'll have to look it up, but seems to me the school shooter in Michigan a couple of years back was given a weapon - an automatic pistol? - by his parents. In that case, the parents were quite rightly prosecuted. In this Georgia case, too, the father has been arrested and charged.
An epidemic has been running through this country since at least as far back as Columbine twenty-five years ago. Boys and young men are so alienated, so deeply despairing that they obtain fire arms, often automatic weapons, and go into schools, houses of worship, malls and grocery stores... and slaughter as many people as possible. Holding parents to account is one valuable tool in confronting this mass madness. Comprehensive, sensible gun control laws would help as well. But there must be more that can be done.
Someone needs to find out why these kids are so dispondent, why they have such a bleek view of life that they think killing many strangers - and usually themselves, either by self-inflicted gunshot wounds or suicide by cop - is the only solution.
Kamala gets KEY surprise endorsement
This video dropped about 11:00 last night. But, it struck me as a great way to start our blog day.
Thursday, September 05, 2024
Tuesday, September 03, 2024
WTF?! TOP Trump Group Makes SICKENING MOVE Against Kamala
The general idea seems to be that V.P. Harris is not a natural born citizen of the United States, ergo she is prohibited from running for the presidency. Wait till you get a load of the precedent the Republican legislators' group cites to support this claim. Make sure you are not actively eating or drinking while watching this video!
Sunday, September 01, 2024
An Inconvenience
Although it is often said not to blame the child for being the product of rape, J.D. Vance is the only person I have heard refer to rape as "an inconvenience."
In the opinion of this childless cat lady, such an attitude makes Vance unfit to be the father of daughters. Indeed, it makes him unfit to be the father of sons. It is a despicable, unfeeling attitude to hold, much less to express in public.
Saturday, August 31, 2024
Friday, August 30, 2024
Thursday, August 29, 2024
New History Quiz
Here's a link to my latest FunTrivia quiz, "It Happened in 1941[click]." I've been so much at sixes and sevens that it totally slipped my mind to post the link till now.
Tuesday, August 27, 2024
Stinky!
I am not entirely satisfied with this one, but can't quite put my finger on what's wrong. Ideas? Suggestions? Thanks.
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Friday, August 23, 2024
Thursday, August 22, 2024
Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Monday, August 19, 2024
Sunday, August 18, 2024
Saturday, August 17, 2024
Suckers and Losers? I Think Not!
My papa, Ronald Neal Thompson, WO1, USN
When draft dodger Trump said to Sen. John McCane, "I like people who weren't captured," I thought that was it. Surely, no current or retired service members would vote for the bastard. I was wrong.
When draft dodger Trump remarked to Gen. John Kelly, who lost a son on active duty, that those who give their lives in defense of our country and what it stands for are "suckers and losers," I thought that was it.. I was wrong.
An optimist I may be, but one capable of learning. Now that draft dodger Trump has been caught on video saying, "...everyone gets the Congressional Medal of Honor, they're soldiers. They're either in very bad shape because they've been hit so many times by bullets or they are dead," I know it makes no difference. There are veterans, my dad among them, who will vote for Trump.
For myself, peacenik though I may be at heart, as the daughter of veterans I find Trump's remark despicable.
My papa, a career Navy man with seventeen years of service, was lost at sea, on active duty. He is not a sucker and loser!
Mama did a hitch in the WAVES [click] in her early twenties. My dad graduated from the Naval Academy and served thirty years. There is not something wrong with them because they served their country honorably instead of lazing around, partying and corruptly amassing wealth.
It is inexplicable to me and a sorrow that Dad is a Trumper. Nor can I understand any service member or veteran supporting Trump. I do know this though:
Donald Trump is a worthless piece of filth.
I'm a pretty easy going gal - live and let live - and something of a softy. I'm inclined to feel sorry for people who are, for instance, clearly suffering from neurological difficulties and cognitive decline, even if they are creepy crooks.
No more!
He may well be terribly ill. He may have brain worm or brain rot or what-the-hell-ever. He does not deserve one thimbleful of sympathy. Nor does he deserve one vote. He'll get votes from those like my poor dad who have bought hook, line and sinker into Fox News propaganda and other alt right lies. He'll get votes from the hard MAGA haters. But I pray to God those benighted souls are few.
We cannot elect the stinking piece of filth that is Donald Trump to the highest office in the land!
Priscilla Is on the Mend
Priscilla Kitty
Priscilla was very ill earlier this week. Sis caught this photo of her on Monday. We knew she was terribly sick, since she ordinarily doesn't allow anyone near her with a camera.
Mercifully, she has been steadily bouncing back, though she still appears to have intestinal issues. But, she's eating almost normally and drinking water. She joined Dad on the couch last night for snuggles and petting, something she hasn't felt well enough to do for several days. Best of all, she is back to full voice, making herself heard loud and clear last night and today.
A huge thank you to everybody who has been holding her and Dad in the Light - and, of course, to St. Gertrude of Nivelles! [click]
Friday, August 16, 2024
White Hostas and False Dragonhead (Obedient Plant) in the Side Garden
Sis took this photo earlier in the week.
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Wednesday, August 14, 2024
Tuesday, August 13, 2024
Move On There!
On Sunday, August 11, the Israel Defense Force yet again ordered displaced Gazans to move on [click].
You know the drill by now: When the IDF suggests a place for dispossessed Gazans to move on to, like clockwork that new place is bombed, and Israel issues a statement claiming hamas fighters, or a Hamas tummel, or a Hamas earthworm was there!
We all know Netanyahu is guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Anyone in his government that condones what is happening in Gaza as well as the West Bank is likewise a criminal. But it’s time, I think, to apportion the guilt equitably and where it belongs.
Every general who receives orders to continue the offensive in Gaza and decides to follow them rather than reject them as the immoral filth they are is culpable. And from those generals on down to the lowest buck private, every member of the Israel Defense Forces who carries out those orders is culpable.
Remember, all members of the military have an obligation to disobey illegal orders.
If a country ratifies an international treaty or convention, that treaty or convention becomes the law of the land.
So, if a prime minister, or a field marshal, or a master sergeant issues an order that violates, say, the Fourth Geneva Convention, that order is illegal.
Israel ratified the Geneva Conventions on July 6, 1951.
They are, therefore, Israeli law.
Upon joining the IDF, every servicemember is issued a copy of the Israel Defense Forces: Ruach Tzahal - Code of Ethics [click]. If a servicemember is unfamiliar with the Geneva Conventions per se, he nonetheless has a clear understanding of his responsibilities, including the duty to disobey and report illegal orders.
In other words,every bombadier, every tank driver, every rifleman deployed in Gaza knows what he ought to do and knows what he is doing. And, if he cannot see the casm between the two, he is morally bankrupt.
He is also guilty of violating the Ruach Tzahal and of war crimes.
Israel keeps up strikes in Gaza as fears of wider war grow [Opens in a new window]
…None of this was authorized at any level, nor could it have been authorized. Any soldier who was ordered to do any of this should have immediately understood that the order was illegal and would have been obligated to disobey and report the abuse.
This same rule would apply in the case of any clear law-of-war violation. In combat, commanders must make difficult decisions to launch strikes that risk civilian casualties. The law of war does not require that commanders avoid any risk of civilian casualties, but it does mandate that strikes meet the tests of necessity and proportionality, meaning the value of destroying the target outweighs the risk of civilian casualties. When a commander makes a judgment call that destroying a particular target is worth the risk of collateral damage and his judgment is reasonable, his subordinates have to carry out the order, although they themselves might have made a different judgment.
Still, certain strikes might be palpably illegal. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits a wide array of attacks against protected persons. For example, attacks targeting civilians are explicitly prohibited under Article 27. So are attacks on hospitals, pursuant to Article 18. Reprisal attacks are also barred under Article 33, so if a commander orders his soldiers to harm the relatives of a terrorist or to destroy their property in retaliation for attacks on U.S. troops, that would be clearly illegal. His subordinates would be required to disobey the order. Recall that My Lai was a reprisal attack: Members of the unit later said the motivation was revenge for the recent killing of a popular sergeant by enemy forces.
When Can a Soldier Disobey an Order? [opens in a new window]The Obligations of Israel and the Palestinian Authority under International Law (from 2001)[opens in a new window]
Monday, August 12, 2024
Sanders to Trump: You lose support every time you talk about healthcare – so 'go for it'
As Sen. Sanders points out, the U.S. is the outlier. Most other countries in the world have a living wage, affordable or no-cost healthcare, paid family leave, and other policies Trump is trying to label "radical." It won't work. America is ready to join the civilized world. You tell 'em, Bernie!
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Friday, August 09, 2024
Thursday, August 08, 2024
Wednesday, August 07, 2024
Sunday, August 04, 2024
It’s Sunday
Frank Sinatra and Tony Mottola bring us this beautiful song.
Have a peaceful and quiet day.
Saturday, August 03, 2024
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Happy Hump Day
Here's Engelbert with his 2021 remake of his 1988 classic "One World."
Though I have no idea what Enge's politics are, I do know from listening to him talk that he believes in love and peace. I believe in those things too.
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Speaking at LBJ Library, Pres. Biden issues announcement on Supreme Court reform
Glenn Kirschner on Pres. Biden's proposed SCOTUS reforms
Monday, July 29, 2024
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Come Saturday Morning
It's been quite a week! Take a breether, relax, regroup and recharge body and mind for whatever next week may have in store.
Friday, July 26, 2024
Words Have Consequences
Violence, killing, war - these are not matters to be spoken of lightly. Yet Trump and his MAGA cult members routinely speak of some people needing to be killed and of the need for a civil war to protect their values (perverted as those are) and what they perceive as their liberties and way of life.
And yet, words have consequences. Beyond January Sixth and its ongoing ramifications, Trump's violent rhetoric has the predictable result of inciting terrorism. Yesterday an unnamed man was arrested and held in Las Begas after a months-long spree of harassing and threatening the lives of judges, D.A.s and others in the justice system nationwide who have been involved in legal cases, civil and criminal, against Trump.
The fellon that MAGA proclaimed to be their presidential nominee does not just have a decades-long record of criminal and dangerous behavior behind him, he represents a clear and present danger to our nation in the here and now. For all his painfully obvious mental deterioration, he knows all too well what he is doing when he calls for real, physical violence.
In April, Trump lost an appeal seeking to suspend a series of law suits that seek to hold him liable for January Sixth. Curiously, these suits attract little if any attention from the corporate media, though presumably they are ongoing. Incitement to violence is also a crime. I am no clairvoyant, yet it is not difficult for me to see more indictments, stemming from the actions of his cult members like the one in Las Vegas, in Trumps not so distant future.
Links
Rolling Stone: Trump Allies Sure Are Talking A Lot About Civil War (Opens in a new browser window)
Talking Feds [YouTube channel]: Pro-Trump LUNATIC Arrested for Threatening Judges (opens in a new browser window)
Thursday, July 25, 2024
Those people…The shape they’re in, all the expenses, maybe those kinds of people should just die.
Fred C. Trump III with then Pres. Donald Trump in the Oval Office, 2018
Just when you think you've heard the worst about Donald Trump, something worse comes up.
In a forthcoming book by his nephew, Fred C. Trump III, the former president and wannabe dictator is quoted as telling Fred that he should let his disabled son die and then move down to Florida.
Now maybe I'm biased, seeing that I myself am disabled, but I take exception to that attitude. It reminds me of something a doctor - a doctor mind you - told my recently widowed mother when I was lying comatose in his hospital and not expected to recover: "Throw her in a custodial care facility till she dies of pneumonia. You're young. You can have other children."
Trump's attitude does not surprise me. We've seen glimpses of it before. Remember his 2015 mockery of reporter Serge Kovaleski, who suffered from a congenital joint condition? If I had known nothing else about Trump, that act of cruelty and disrespect alone would have caused me not to vote for him.
Kovaleski was a stranger and a grown man. Here he's suggesting that his own flesh and blood, a teenager, be "allowed to die" since, after all, he has multiple disabilities, including mental defacits. In other words, he's not a person at all.
In 2024, if that were the only thing I knew about Donald Trump, it would cause me not to vote for him.
Links
Time: My Uncle Donald Trump Told Me Disabled Americans Like My Son ‘Should Just Die’ (opens in a new browser window)
The Guardian: Trump told nephew to let his disabled son die, then move to Florida, book says (opens in a new browser window)
The Guardian: Trump nephew reveals Uncle Donald’s racist outburst in new book (opens in a new browser window)
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Hump Day
Mano a mano, hand in hand, we've got the power to turn this darkness into light!
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Police violence claims another life
The American system of policing is fundamentally flawed. Hardly a week goes by without a report of some cop, somewhere, shooting dead a citizen, usually a person of color, frequently a teenaged black boy.
The latest incident is particularly shocking since the victim, a black woman named Sonya Massey, called the police for assistance because she believed there was an intruder in her home. On the officer’s body cam video, he can be heard verbally abusing Sonya and then threatening to kill her before fatally shooting her in the head.
His own words and action demonstrate that this man should never have been in any job dealing with the public, certainly not one as demanding of intelligence, quick wits, patience and empathy as that of a law enforcement officer.
As one man quoted in the Guardian report points out, for years the Defense Department has been sending surplus armaments to city and town police departments. Our civilian police do not need tanks. They need the ability to cope calmly, rationally and with a touch of sympathy with distraught people who call for their help.
Biden calls for justice after footage released of police killing Black woman (opens in a new browser windo)
Kamala Harris joins calls for police reforms after Sonya Massey killing (opens in a new browser windo)
Trump’s Kryptonite
We have to" earn his sacrifice" Rick Wilson says, and he's absolutely right. How many of us would, or could, have done what Pres. Biden did? Up to now the 2024 election has been centered on a negative - keeping Trump from returning to the presidency. Now, it is centered on a positive - electing Pres. Biden's chosen successor and thereby honoring his heroic patriotism.
Monday, July 22, 2024
It's a brand new morning
I've come to peace, more or less, with our new reality. After all, it was Pres. Biden's decision and sacrifice to make. He has graciously and fully endorsed V.P. Harris, who is moving with all deliberate speed to make the requisite arrangements and to unify the Party, together with all others of good will who wish to purge the body politic of the cancer that is Trump and his MAGA cult.
Is she my ideal candidate? No. Can she win with what one might call a coalilition of the democracy minded? Yes! She has charisma and style. She is intelligent and devoted to our country and our Constitution. She is a former D.A. and a former senator, after all. She has a heavy load to lift but, with the help of us all, she shall shift it and lift it and fling it far into the depths.
I am still reeling from the events of yesterday afternoon. Perhaps you are as well. That's okay. It's all right to grieve and to feel disappointment and anger. But rather than letting these emotions overcome us, tempting us to give up, we must carry on, must turn our disappointment and anger and sorrow into renewed determination to defeat Trump. The mission hasn't changed, only the one being sent. Together, Mrs. Harris and all of us will see that mission through to the end, and start a new, bright chapter for America.
Sunday, July 21, 2024
President pushed out by Dem. leadership in bogus crisis
In a move as notable for its hubris and bigotry as for its sheer shortsighted stupidity, key members of the Democratic Party have forced U.S. Pres. Joe Biden to step down as the party's presumptive presidential nominee in favor of his Vice President, Kamala Harris.
The big cable news companies ignited an artificial bruhaha after the June 27 presidential debate, where Mr. Biden experienced a major stuttering episode brought on by a combination of exhaustion and anxiety/frustration. Although the president came through the episode and continued the debate, and although what he said throughout was logical, sensible and true while Donald Trump lied continually, the corporate media manufactured a crisis over Mr. Biden's supposed mentaal decline. This in the face of years' worth of evidence that Mr. Biden is intelligent, thoughtful, mentally well organized and extremely competent while Mr. Trump's mental illness and cognitive decline have been blindingly evident for years and have, in fact, been growing more severe practically by the week.
From the start, Democratic Party "leaders" jumped on the so-called crisis, calling into question the President's fitness to serve as the Democrats' challenger to Trump. Were it not for these self-serving hacks, the made up nonstory would have died a quick and quiet death, since the people themselves, who voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Biden in the primaries, have been with him all the way; indeed, contrary to the lie promulgated by corporate news, support for the President has only been growing since the debate and the recent "MAGA (formerly Republican) nominating convention.
But, not to be deterred by the will of the people, these same selfserving Democrats succeeded on Sunday in pressuring Mr. Biden, who has recently suffered a second bout of Covid, into stepping aside in favor of Harris.
The ageism and contempt for a person who has largely overcome a stutter, to say nothing of the blatent disrespect for a man of principle, moral rectatude, deep knowledge of U.S. and World politics and frankly breathtaking mental accuity sickens this writer. It is also incredible that those who claim to want to defeat Trump have now cacheered the one and only candidate with a proven track record of defeating Trump. It may still be possible to pull off a blue tsunami that effectively buries MAGA without a trace. I certainly hope so! But it would have been a whole lot easier with Biden as the nominee.
Saturday, July 20, 2024
It's Saturday!
It's Saturday! Kick back, relax with a tall glass of ice cold lemonade and forget about your cares for a while.
Friday, July 19, 2024
Thursday, July 18, 2024
Hostas Chez Catreona
The hostas are doing remarkably well this year. Sis took this photo earlier this week.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Sometimes A Day Goes By
I've always loved this song, from a fantastic Pop album by Placcido Domingo. But since losing Mom, I find it really reminds me of her. It's so true.
The Impossible Dream
Another Broadway score Mom and I loved was "The Man of La Mancha". Here's the incomparable Richard Kiley.
Wind beneath My Wings
Carmel Quin did two or three concerts at my alma mater, The College of our Lady of the Elms in Chicopee, Mass. while I was a student there. Mom and I attended and enjoyed them. At one of the shows, Carmel sang "The Wind beneath My Wings." Funnily enough, though I was familiar with the song, it had never done a whole lot for me. Hearing Carmel sing it, though, brought the meaning home to me. I remember squeezing Mom's hand during the song, and her seeming perplexed at my doing so. But it said everything I was never able to say to her.
Can't seem to find Carmel Quin on YouTube, so here's Bette Midler.
Mack and Mabel & I wont Send Roses
When we lived in England in the mid 1980s, Mom and I both enjoyed listening to "Saturday Morning with David Jacobs" on BBC Radio 2. One of David's things was the score from an obscure Jerry Herman show called _Mack and Mabel_. He loved that score and especially a sort of anti-love song called "I Won't Send Roses" sung by Robert Preston. He played that song, and played it... It wouldn't surprise me to find that David Jacobs singlehandedly made that score a bestselling record in Gritain. We bought it, and well nigh wore out the cassette before upgrading to CD a few years later.
Something else Mom and I shared was being enchanted with Torvill and Dean. When YouTube came along, we both spent happy hours watching their videos. So, what could be better than Torvill and Dean meat "Mack and Mabel"?
Up, Up and Away
With one Mom and I always loved to turn up loud and sing along with, here's The 5th Dimension.