Yesterday I was wondering about the agriculture (mostly soybeans) debacle caused by Trump’s tarrifs.  This was around harvest time and China had all but ceased to buy US agriculture products.  There was some negotiations, some subsidies and then quiet.  I assumed the problem had been resolved, but it appears not.  I can’t help but wonder how many of these farmers were big Trump supporters.  From The Des Moines Register.

Farm leaders warn of ‘collapse of American agriculture’ in dire letter

Our driveway cam sometimes goes off at night. I’ve looked but never saw anything.  Lately I noticed some big paw prints in the driveway and in the back of our property.  Thought it was a neighbor’s dog on the loose.  Last night I got another video at 3am.  Looked closer and saw something moving along the retaining wall.  Zoomed in and saw this fellow.  I have a better trail cam I’ll have to set up and get a closer look.

From “Count” Victor Lustig.  Reproduced below from the wiki page. Always good to know especially in this day and age.

1. Be a patient listener (it is this, not fast talking, that gets a con man his coups).

2. Never look bored.

3. Wait for the other person to reveal any political opinions, then agree with them.

4. Let the other person reveal religious views, then have the same ones.

5. Hint at sex talk, but don’t follow it up unless the other person shows a strong interest.

6. Never discuss illness, unless some special concern is shown.

7. Never pry into a person’s personal circumstances (they’ll tell you all eventually).

8. Never boast. Just let your importance be quietly obvious. [The rule against boasting does not always apply in the United States today.]

9. Never be untidy.

10. Never get drunk.

From the Louisiana Illuminator, originally Verite News.

The looming return of Jim Crow to Louisiana, America’s second Blackest state

I really enjoyed this movie when it came out.  I remember watching it in the VHS rental era, at home on a small TV.  Time to give it another viewing.  A long, but very good look back at a movie that has quietly endured.

No Cult Favorite: BREAKING AWAY Is a Masterpiece

UFO clouds over the Sandias, got a telescope, snow day, took the tram to the top of the Sandias.

Almost a decade ago I saw the price curves for EV batteries (and wind and solar power).  It was a no-brainer.  Technology advances were going to make EVs cheaper than gas cars and they would take over.

My thinking was based on a lifetime in the tech world where such shifts happen quickly and regularly.  Anyone selling old expensive stuff will quickly be put out of business.

I figure EVs have been cheaper (and less hassle) to operate for years now.  Electricity (at home) is cheap.  I spend less than $5 to “fill up” a car that would cost many times that at a gas station. Plus I don’t have to go to gas stations.  Or get oil changes.  Or radiator flushes.  Of new mufflers and exhausts. Brakes even last longer.

EVs are cheap, clean, quiet, fast and less work than old gas cars.  So what’s taking so long?  I sometimes forget the Real World isn’t the Tech World.  Things move slower, for all sorts of reasons.  But the advantages of EVs (and solar and wind power) keep compounding.  It seems a tipping point has been reached, at least in large parts of the world.  From The Guardian.

Electric cars go mainstream as adoption surges across rich and developing nations

The Lazaroffs are family friends from our daughter’s years in College Station.  Good to see Leibel doing so well after his terrible injuries.  Watch this video.

Musical Performance with Bondi Hero Leibel Lazaroff

I started this posting a while back and have wanted to do it for months.  I felt a little funny though, like I was doing a product promotion, even if it was a very good product that I actually enjoy myself. But after the recent events in Minneapolis, what could be better than supporting the arts in that town?  Especially perhaps the only original American art from, born of America’s cultural struggles.

Below is a link to the Spotify of Steve Kenny Quintet‘s latest one, Blue Chunks.  I’ve listened to Steve Kenny in various bands (Illicit Sextet, Group 47, Steve Kenny Quartet) for decades now.  Steve is a fixture, if not a pillar, of the Twin Cities jazz scene these days.

I’m not a guy to do a music review, especially a jazz album, but I like this one enough to give it a mention.  A bit lighter than their previous albums, but it just sounds like Steve and his friends are having fun and want us in on it too.

I lived in Minneapolis in the early 1990s, going to school at UMinn and working at Honeywell.  I still have a few old friends up there.  One sent me this. Passing it on.  Pass it on.

https://youtu.be/uozLlmUhzZY?si=pYLLe21xhtaNG_RV