"...he bought our house..."

images from the top="someone to watch over me..."...moon rising over yuma this morning...moon rising over yuma this morning some more...liz is the only one looking forward to the 90 degree temps tomorrow...most of the desert looks like this...dry dry dry...broken plate from long ago on the desert floor

 

as can be seen from the photos the sky is not falling...much...mark twain thought a monarchy was the best form of government he had seen,,,and he saw a lot of them...one of the lecturers on history that i have on DVD...(i think is was rufus fears) said that wars could be stopped immediately when two auto-crats were warring but in a democracy the wars just went on and on and on...a good documentary on youtube is "The russian revolution; all power to the soviet" (33min) and also  "The mexican revolution-1910-1920" (25min)...those folks who keep talking up a "revolution" in the usa ain't thinkin' too well..."so you say you want a revolution, you know we all want to see the plan..." j.lennon...i have been watching all the stuff on the internet (youtube) by "The secret six"jazz band posted mostly by the new orleans jazz museum...the japanese woman trombone player is loving life (and makes me love life too!) can you guess what the secret is?..."Froggie Moore rag" is one of my favorites...

 

"he bought our house on the G.I. bill but it wasn't worth all he had to kill to get it..."david allen coe

 

"In a democracy such as ours..."

 descriptions of images in order from top to bottom...i am kneeling down and i see specks on the sand ...them i pick one of the specks up and determine that it is pretty hard...then i see more specks near by and pinch the top and realize that it is hollow beneath...and under the specks is like a piece of felt...compressed web i believe...this hole picture is a return to get a close-up with a different lens...the webbing is more noticeable...the next two images are un-identified objects in the sky which i presume are a launch if some company's rocket...there were smaller flair-ups which might have been parts of the rocket being jettison...the last image is the specks after soaking in water over night...

well hells-a-poppin in government now...bill gates who is a pretty straight shooter said he though government was about 10% to 15% too big also...i dont want to be a MUSKOVITE necessarily but musk does not not need a vote or a dollar and not many people can say that... i highly recommend that you listen to thoreau's "Civil Disobedience" and "Life without Principal"...i think he would have approved of the current approach to government reduction...i read where there has been about a $260 billion dollar overpay by the federal government....that's a lot of school lunches! and the 60 million dollar snatch back from FEMA for housing "asylum seekers" in NEW YORK city is music to my ears...what the hell kind of a person goes to russia with cannabis anyhow...mr fogel has pretty bad risk to reward  judgment....i watched some pretty good science presentations on youtube this week such as "10 minute neuro-science; visual pathways" and also "synaptic pruning" by alila medical...there was a good interview called "Neil Young talks about how media divides the USA"...also "What if all the worlds biggest problems have the same solution"(24 min)

"In a democracy such as ours military policy is dependent on public opinion" G.C Marshall (1943)

"Th future of humanity..."

$3.50 ECCO YAK shoes from my savil row tailor Paul de St. Vincent

never seen this size hole before

sun rose about 5 minutes after 7 this morning

view to the west with sand dunes and mountains

saw three of these birds on the lawn at laundryvill last week...nice looking birds

lots of news this week...i guess the commander in chief really likes multi-tasking....i am keeping a backpack packed and ready just in case the poop hits the fan... watched a very good youtube presentation by PETE BEINART on DEMOCRACY NOW entitled  "Being Jewish after the destruction of Gaza"...he brings in a lot of historical context and is probably not antisemitic...probably...someone said something about the Palestinians being sub-human...i think that many of them are feral...too long away from a civilized community...i was listening to a woman who wrote a book about ending the war in Ukraine which made me think of this song by Johnny Cash called "GOD BLESS ROBERT E. LEE" dont judge it until you hear it...i read the rolling stone with the interview with kid rock which was interesting...i dont have any of his music but i saw him in a willie nelson dvd with jerry lee lewis...mr lewis was very appreciative of mr rocks support...i think there was an advertisement for some shoes with a mr. s. dogg being the supporter of this brand...therefore i though it was a good idea to give an alternative option (and i don't mean to be braggadocios) but i bought 3 pairs of shoes for about ten bucks total which are very comfortable and sturdy...i keep getting an ad online to 'shop like a millionaire" TEMU...is that stupid or what!...shop around...buy used!...i watched an episode of "Nero Wolfe"  last night which indicates the time period is WW two not the 1950's...i think this current administration of the federal government will prompt the use of deep-seek of some other AI source to run most of government...

"The future of humanity depends on how many people achieve individuation"   Carl Jung
 

"Meet the first..."

 this beautiful bird walked up and stayed around for several minutes...i had no lizards to offer
 

 this is a piece of quartz...the gold miner types have pretty much smashed all the quartz above ground 

  i sit here looking at mr c. patel seek to convince congress that he can head up the federal bureau of investigation after listening to the commander in chief say he will only accept GENIUSES!!! on the federal payroll...we are in a world of hurt....crazy is the new normal perhaps...

i  have been watching a couple of good serial dramas on DVD..."Criminal Minds" is a pretty good crime show...but kind of depressing...these folks are a behavioral analysis unit...i think people are getting crazier by the minute...and no relief in sight...the other series is "Nero Wolfe" which is quite good and there are no unwashed people and everyone is dressed very well and the cars look great...i think this takes place in the 1950"s in the USA...i will say that every beautiful woman ends up dead...but always while the viewer is away...

i came across some great tunes on youtube..."It ain't my mama's broken heart" is a great video by a ms lambert i think and the never controversial ms nikki lane has a great video in which she sings and plays a beautiful guitar on her "Good Enough" video...never controversial...OK...also a great youtube musical presentation is Big Joe Williams "She left me a mule to ride"..great blues

i heard something about llamas as therapy animals...i worked around about 75 llamas everyday and i can recommend them for people who are too damned confident as they can be depended on to spit in your face for no apparent treason at every opportunity...now that's tough love!

"Meet the first beginnings; look to the budding mischief before it has time to ripen to maturity."   Shakespeare

 

"I paint things..."

burro banana from local mexican store...looks too old?

when peeled they are like custard!...very tasty

this hawk was trying to carry a whole dead dove

                 these planes are increasingly flying over....waiting for the word to fly to greenland !

lots of wind this week...and sand...and sun...no beach at all...but i found a fossil this morning one of only 3 i have found...looks like a marine organism...so beach was here only a few hundred million years ago...

woke up about 3 in the morning on monday just in time to projectile vomit about five gallons of sick out the back of the truck...and some more an hour later...bad food?...probably a touch of the flu since i had been feeling feverish for a few days...could barely stand up all day...missed all the inauguration...felt so bad about that...NOT!...well no world wars started yet anyhow...i did manage to watch some very good YouTube however...such as

"The Myth of David's Kingdom"...2 hours long and the presentation is well delivered...this academic talks about "criterion of embarrassment"...i had my book of historical maps in my lap which indicates that a country called "PHILISTIA" has surrounded a city called GAZA for longer than Judea or Israel existed...which gives the lie to the Biblical justification for Israel to exist as the big dog on the block....however as we remember from the lecture on HYPER-AGGRESSION humiliations probably precipitated the savagery of both Hamas and the Israeli defense forces...they are historically damaged people...and have a few thousand years of bad vibes...better them than me 

i watched mr musks "hand gestures"...which i believe are natural reactions for the occasion...i have seen monkeys and little children make the same gestures...normal...

the number of very wealthy trump supporters is not hardly an oligarchy...its just rich friends...all of these people contributed to national and international well being...get over it...musks contribution is much more than being THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD...I am sure he gets tired of that term...

it may be time to reevaluate the presidential pardon powers...for the executive branch to override the judicial branch seems like a mis-use of power 

i changed my mind about "Rolling Stone" magazine as i picked up a couple at the thrift and read some good articles...but still too much GLAMOR...it is not to my taste but some folks love it 

saw a good video called " BALTHVS OJOS VERDES"...very tight

"I paint things as they are. I don't comment. I record" Henri de Toulouse Lautrec

  

 

"Since the house is on fire..."

 images in order are top desert in town before "development" then view at dawn this morning from hotel door and lastly view across the street from first image desert after bulldozers prepare site for "development"...desert environments must be preserved more vigorously...

i am watching members of the congress interview gov. kristi noem for the position of secretary of homeland security...it occurs to me that many of these people have spent most of their lives getting  elected....this makes for a dearth of practical experience in activities which might allow them to better understand how to deal with practical problems....many of these people certainly hate everything about the previous administrations attempts to govern this country...well i have little hope that the next administration will have any better achievement record...

on a happier note i would like to recommend some music....which along with cuddle buddies helps me to stay positive..."Norah Jones and Mickey Raphael performing "Night Life" is good and Mickey Raphael with Jason Isbel performing "Pancho and Lefty" with Raphael on accordion

also there is a good youtube site from Nautilus research vessel and animalogic has a good segment on oarfish and stephen axford fantastic fungi time lapse is interesting...

"Since the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.: Italian proverb

"Great Spirit..."

a small rock with a pile of sand next to it 

when the rock is raised the spider hole becomes apparent....i have yet to see the spider...if it is a spider

watched pres. bidens final speech last night...ouch!... now we get to sift through the next administrations output of verbiage...why no fact checking mr Z?... anyhow, it should be interesting...

i guess now that carter is dead i can tell about my Iranian encounter...i was going home from the zoo after doing night keeper duties when about  3 in the morning i see a car on fire...it is a Volkswagen and the rear engine compartment is ablaze...i pull up to the car as the driver is finishing putting out the fire,,,ain't going nowhere in this bug...i see the driver is a is middle eastern looking man and in need of help...i ask him if he wants a ride somewhere...then i tell him there are three empty rooms where i am staying at my recently divorced fathers house...he decides to ride with with me and i put him in the master bedroom while i retire to my room...and when we get up later in the morning i ask him where he needs to go...i forget if it was to the bus station or what but he is grateful for the help and he gives me a ring as a thanks...he says it was his grandmothers and the inscription says "GOD IS GREAT"...actually it says allah is great...before we part he asks me what i thought was a strange question..."if i return will we be friends regardless of what has happened" it sounds kind of mysterious to me but i say sure why not ....well he says he must return to Iran immediately and less than a week later the hostages are taken in Iran...i always hoped that this man had encouraged the kidnappers to not be cruel because of my kindness to him...who knows...

i recently watched a biography of sorts of mark twain during his so called "later years"...he developed an obsession with girls from the age of 12 to 16 years...i think he referred to them as his "angelfish"...ok whatever...he even built a large house with many rooms so they could come live with him...he said he had no grandchildren and he long for them...so when his daughter returned from europe she put the brakes on this plan...too bad sam...i also read about john ruskin who wrote and did art and was a critic of some note...he became obsessed with a 10 year old student of his but was able to control himself until she turned 16 when he proposed marriage...she rebuffed his attention and basically told him to get lost...poor mr ruskin was actually married to a woman but on the wedding night he got sight of her "private parts" and was so alarmed that they were soon divorced...OK...this sad fellow seems not to have had a good grip on reality....anyhow i guess the dating sites might serve a good purpose if even to let folks get acquainted before too serious a relationship develops...

"Great Spirit, give me a heaven not so large as yours, but large enough for me." Emily Dickenson