FOTO FRIDAY: I SPY ...

 

FOTO FRIDAY: Despite a major cold blast hitting Arkansas mid-month with a couple days of ice laden streets, we are fortunate to not only have bird song at day break but a new color  as well popping up around town. 

That color is a cheery yellow. 

Spring is springing.

TBT: THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US

 TBT: 2014 Lest we forget: We are all part of those who came before us...

TUESDAY TUNES: A LEGEND LEAVES A LEGACY

 TUESDAY TUNES: Some performers are icons in one's life. They had one song in particular which demarcates a certain time and for me it was 1972, my high school graduation year. The song was  Killing Me Softly sung by the legend Roberta Flack who passed yesterday. 

Many moons later, a man came along who did just what the lyrics stated: strumming my face with his finger... and I melted.

RIP Roberta Flack 1937-2025

STRUMMING MY FACE WITH HIS FINGER 

We both wore our fros that year...

FOTO FRIDAY: LET US EXHALE

 

FOTO FRIDAY: So many messages in a mural. Here's one of the many I captured this past week in New Orleans... not just for Black History month as the message and the sign both speak volumes.

TBT: 2014

February 21 2014 OK, Weathermen, I could have gone to Jazzercise today and even had coffee time with the girls. Instead, I got my exercise walking to the mailbox with my boys. Bad weather postponed 'til later. That was Romeo in the pic with me.

Had oodles of comments on this pic that year regarding weather.

Fast forward to today and in Arkansas apparently main roads were passable but side streets were still pretty icy.  I stayed longer in the Big Easy where I donned my winter jacket but enjoyed driving across Lake Ponchatrain even with wind gust warnings. Sweet potato pie and a chocolate praline for dessert today!

TUESDAY TUNES :SO TONIGHT LET'S HAVE SOME FUN...

 TUESDAY TUNES : No matter whether you are with me in the Big Easy or anywhere I say, SO TONIGHT LET'S HAVE SOME FUN .

FOTO FRIDAY: CHECKED OFF

FOTO FRIDAY this week I have another item off  checked my 'must do' list which was to go see a new exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum at Jackson Plaza entitled:

RODRIGUE BEFORE THE BLUE DOG

Fascinating to say the least and afterwards the Rodrigue Studio was a great addition too.

TBT: BALTO

 TBT: 6 years ago today the daily Petfinder arrived with their picks for me and there's a dog named Balto, a husky/shepard mix . 

Balto was a sweetie. We didn't even know if he could bark until a year later. He didn't like to venture away from the house even with all that acreage. In fact, when we went on walks in the End of the Rainbow Valley, Balto would turn around and head back to the house without us when hetired. Balto did sing like Scoobie doo when Natureman played the harmonica. What a hoot!  

Balto passed away 2 Decembers ago from the kidney cancer. I miss that Balto sweetheart too.

MIDWEEK MUSINGS: SUPERBOWL LIX

MIDWEEK MUSINGS  reflect the rumblings of the New Orleans Superbowl LIX. I actually heard one succinct description that I want to highlight because we need to reflect on what happened on that field... There are all sorts of messages. Was it a masterpiece that went way over the heads of those who really need to understand?

The following are words spoken by Dejon Campbell.

"Ledisi sung the National Black Anthem.

Jon Batiste sung the National Anthem.

Kendrick Lamar KDot performed at the halftime show with all black dancers who were danced in red, white and blue. They formed themselves into the American flag and sent multiple messages throughout the entire performance of what it means to be Black in America and there were other messages weaving through the performance that I'm still breaking down.

Samuel L Jackson narrated the entire thing dressed as Uncle Sam. 

Serena Williams made an appearance and danced

My wife Sza performed.

And then to top it all off, the Eagles won against the Chiefs- 40 to 22. .The Eagles, their quarterback, Jalen Hurts is a black man.

The Revolution was televised. The Revolution was televised, and it was televised on one of the largest stages ever...

Good Night and Happy Black History Month."

TUESDAY TUNES: THE 70's

 It's Valentine's day week and to all of those who fill my heart . This mix is for you and for all those who fill yours... Greatest loves songs of the 70's...

Gr8 est Love songs of the 70's

MONDAY MUSINGS: STAR STRUCK

We are a star struck nation. Some actors like to use their star status to share their political platforms. Depending on their popularity, charisma, communication skills and successful careers, they sometimes even run for political office. 

Other times they just get quoted/ even have editorials... Here's a familiar face...

The Other 98% 

Here are Robert De Niro's words about another New Yorker, this one a reality tv star...

“I’ve spent a lot of time studying bad men.  I’ve examined their characteristics, their mannerisms, the utter banality of their cruelty. Yet there’s something different about Donald Trump. 

When I look at him, I don’t see a bad man. Truly. 

I see an evil one. 

Over the years, I’ve met gangsters here and there. This guy tries to be one, but he can’t quite pull it off. There’s such a thing as “honor among thieves.” 

Yes, even criminals usually have a sense of right and wrong.  Whether they do the right thing or not is a different story — but — they have a moral code, however warped.

Donald Trump does not. He’s a wannabe tough guy with no morals or ethics. No sense of right or wrong. No regard for anyone but himself — not the people he was supposed to lead and protect, not the people he does business with, not the people who follow him, blindly and loyally, not even the people who consider themselves his “friends.”

 He has contempt for all of them.

We New Yorkers got to know him over the years that he poisoned the atmosphere and littered our city with monuments to his ego.  We knew first hand that this was someone who should never be considered for leadership. 

 We tried to warn the world in 2016.

The repercussions of his turbulent presidency divided America and rattled New York City beyond imagination.  Remember how we were jolted by crisis in early 2020, as a virus swept the world. We lived with Donald Trump’s bombastic behavior every day on the national stage, and we suffered as we saw our neighbors piling up in body bags. 

The man who was supposed to protect this country put it in peril, because of his recklessness and impulsiveness. It was like an abusive father ruling the family by fear and violent behavior.  That was the consequence of New York’s warning getting ignored. Next time, we know it will be worse.

Make no mistake: the twice-impeached, 4-time indicted Donald Trump is still a fool. But we can’t let our fellow Americans write him off like one. Evil thrives in the shadow of dismissive mockery, which is why we must take the danger of Donald Trump very seriously.

So today we issue another warning. From this place where Abraham Lincoln spoke — right here in the beating heart of New York — to the rest of America: 

This is our last chance.

Democracy won’t survive the return of a wannabe dictator.

And it won’t overcome evil if we are divided.

So what do we do about it?  I know I’m preaching to the choir here.  What we’re doing today is valuable, but we have to take today into tomorrow – take it outside these walls.  

We have to reach out to the half of our country who have ignored the hazards of Trump and, for whatever reason, support elevating him back into the White House.  They’re not stupid, and we must not condemn them for making a stupid choice.  Our future doesn’t just depend on us. It depends on them.

Let’s reach out to Trump’s followers with respect. 

Let’s not talk about “democracy.”  “Democracy” may be our holy grail, but to others it is just a word, a concept, and in their embrace of Trump, they’ve already turned their backs on it.  

Let’s talk about right and wrong.  Let’s talk about humanity.  

Let’s talk about kindness.  Security for our world.  Safety for our families.  Decency.  

Let’s welcome them back.  

We won’t get them all, but we can get enough to end the nightmare of Trump, and fulfill the mission of this “Stop Trump Summit.””

FOTO FRIDAY: LOOK UP

 

FOTO FRIDAY this week reminds us to look up. There have been some stunning sunsets.

TBT: THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE?

TBT:This is what democracy looks like. Slow learners... Did it all fall on deaf ears?

2012 To mark the year anniversary of the 99% wanting to be heard... my photo collage of political signs "This is What Democracy Looks Like" was on display at the La Crosse main library for the entire month of March.

Actually before I left the Coulee region, I was honored as this political art now was given a home in  La Crosse's Historical Society's Museum permanent collection. 

MIDWEEK MUSINGS:CHEW ON BARGAINING WOKE...

READ on and become woke if you will...

“I’m going to get a little wonky and write about Donald Trump and negotiations. For those who don't know, I'm an adjunct professor at Indiana University - Robert H. McKinney School of Law and I teach negotiations. Okay, here goes.

Trump, as most of us know, is the credited author of "The Art of the Deal," a book that was actually ghost written by a man named Tony Schwartz, who was given access to Trump and wrote based upon his observations. If you've read The Art of the Deal, or if you've followed Trump lately, you'll know, even if you didn't know the label, that he sees all dealmaking as what we call "distributive bargaining."

Distributive bargaining always has a winner and a loser. It happens when there is a fixed quantity of something and two sides are fighting over how it gets distributed. Think of it as a pie and you're fighting over who gets how many pieces. In Trump's world, the bargaining was for a building, or for construction work, or subcontractors. He perceives a successful bargain as one in which there is a winner and a loser, so if he pays less than the seller wants, he wins. The more he saves the more he wins.

The other type of bargaining is called integrative bargaining. In integrative bargaining the two sides don't have a complete conflict of interest, and it is possible to reach mutually beneficial agreements. Think of it, not a single pie to be divided by two hungry people, but as a baker and a caterer negotiating over how many pies will be baked at what prices, and the nature of their ongoing relationship after this one gig is over.

The problem with Trump is that he sees only distributive bargaining in an international world that requires integrative bargaining. He can raise tariffs, but so can other countries. He can't demand they not respond. There is no defined end to the negotiation and there is no simple winner and loser. There are always more pies to be baked. Further, negotiations aren't binary. China's choices aren't (a) buy soybeans from US farmers, or (b) don't buy soybeans. They can also (c) buy soybeans from Russia, or Argentina, or Brazil, or Canada, etc. That completely strips the distributive bargainer of his power to win or lose, to control the negotiation.

One of the risks of distributive bargaining is bad will. In a one-time distributive bargain, e.g. negotiating with the cabinet maker in your casino about whether you're going to pay his whole bill or demand a discount, you don't have to worry about your ongoing credibility or the next deal. If you do that to the cabinet maker, you can bet he won't agree to do the cabinets in your next casino, and you're going to have to find another cabinet maker.

There isn't another Canada.

So when you approach international negotiation, in a world as complex as ours, with integrated economies and multiple buyers and sellers, you simply must approach them through integrative bargaining. If you attempt distributive bargaining, success is  impossible. And we see that already.

Trump has raised tariffs on China. China responded, in addition to raising tariffs on US goods, by dropping all its soybean orders from the US and buying them from Russia. The effect is not only to cause tremendous harm to US farmers, but also to increase Russian revenue, making Russia less susceptible to sanctions and boycotts, increasing its economic and political power in the world, and reducing ours. Trump saw steel and aluminum and thought it would be an easy win, BECAUSE HE SAW ONLY STEEL AND ALUMINUM - HE SEES EVERY NEGOTIATION AS DISTRIBUTIVE. China saw it as integrative, and integrated Russia and its soybean purchase orders into a far more complex negotiation ecosystem.

Trump has the same weakness politically. For every winner there must be a loser. And that's just not how politics works, not over the long run.

For people who study negotiations, this is incredibly basic stuff, negotiations 101, definitions you learn before you even start talking about styles and tactics. And here's another huge problem for us.

Trump is utterly convinced that his experience in a closely held real estate company has prepared him to run a nation, and therefore he rejects the advice of people who spent entire careers studying the nuances of international negotiations and diplomacy. But the leaders on the other side of the table have not eschewed expertise, they have embraced it. And that means they look at Trump and given his very limited tool chest and his blindly distributive understanding of negotiation, they know exactly what he is going to do and exactly how to respond to it. 

From a professional negotiation point of view, Trump isn't even bringing checkers to a chess match. He's bringing a quarter that he insists of flipping for heads or tails, while everybody else is studying the chess board to decide whether it's better to open with Najdorf or Grünfeld.”

— David Honig

TUESDAY TUNES: INTENTIONS

TUESDAY TUNES is a different  take of the Bieber. May his tunes/ lyrics reflect his growth and his future. It's all about intentions... 

"Directed by Michael D. Ratner, the video previews Bieber (along with Quavo) drawing attention to the difficulties of women and children in need while raising awareness and funds for Alexandria House, whose mission is to help them move from crisis to stability."

Take a listen to Quavo and Bieber: INTENTIONS

MONDAY MUSINGS: SHARING THE BOUNTY

MONDAY MUSINGS: Finally our insurance companies are making efforts to help keep their customers healthier because the bottom line is their profit. They are putting their (our) money towards EXERCISE and DIET as both can affect their profit.

Take for example my company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, will pay for a Y program called Blue Sneakers, a senior adult exercise program. I wish they would compensate my preferred program of Jazzercise. 

Since COVID and my move South my exercise participation has been online where I exercise in the comfort of my own abode without others' germs. If truth be told, most days staying in my jammies as my Wisconsin 5:15 am class starts my day stretching out all those kinks and providing a musical start to my day. 

Then this past fall an insurance survey participation promised a gift. If the gift was another tote, it could be donated. But that gift was long forgotten as the months passed.. and then lo and behold,  on my doorstep was a heavy insulated box and look what was inside!

Gorgeous fruit and veggies! In the plastic bags were broccoli and brussel sprouts. It was definitely well insulated on that January trip but unfortunately, the delivery service ignored the upright arrow on the box and some arrived badly bruised. 

The only issue was using it all quickly as I was off to the Atlanta grands for a couple weeks.  Yet, what a wonderful treat being able to share the bounty with some of my kind neighbors so it didn't go to waste.

My insurance company gained kudos even if we pay for it.  It's a win win. Sharing the bounty makes the world a bit nicer, don't you think?