February 26, 2022

We need Pete Seeger today

Seeger read a book “And Quiet Flows the Don". Written in Russia by the author, Mikhail Sholokhov, about the Cossacks along the river, Don. And at one point in the book, it had three little lines. It said--describing the Cossack soldiers galloping off to join the army of the czar way back in the 19th century singing, `Where are the flowers? -The girls have plucked them. Where are the girls?- They were all married. -Where are the men? They're all in the army.' And he says to himself, `Gee, that sounds like an interesting song, Then on a plane in 1955 on his way to sing at Oberlin College, he pulls out his notebook and sees those three lines, and he suddenly connected them with another line he'd written in his notebook, `long time passing.' then he thinks, maybe those three lines could fit together with that little phrase, long time passing, would sing well. And pretty soon, a tune comes to me. And then he added the end, the intellectuals' perennial complaint through the ages, `when will they ever learn.' And 20 minutes later, he had three verses to a song, and he--with scotch tape, stuck it to the microphone on the stage at Oberlin and sang it to the students that night.

February 23, 2022

The slow disappearance of "Trumpaltars"

" I think I coined the word "Trumpaltar", but you all can use it and spread it around a bit if you want. They were rare to begin with in Connecticut. But, you know, there are always a few wingnuts everywhere. In my community these Trumpsters erected a lawn display or every imaginable Trump banner, poster, cardboard cutout of the Donald, and other paraphernalia. Several of the "altars" disappeared last week. I think the accounting firm Mazars' statements to the Attorney General of New York regarding the unreliability of Trump's statements was the final nail in the coffin for them. All of the Trump stuff is gone from their yards, and now there are just a few U. S. Flags. Of course, they are not immediate converts to a new political stance, but they feel that they have been duped and are embarrassed about supporting Trump and the money that they spent on their "Trumpaltar." I don't think we will be seeing any Trump 2024 signs on this lawn. If you have a report to add to this post in your neck of the woods, please post here. I love being on DU.

February 22, 2022

Trump hurts my grandchildren's schools

The vast majority of that amount, $588,155.12, will be paid by Briarcliff Manor Union Free School District, a small suburban district that includes a combined elementary, middle, and high school. In order to pay that money back to Trump, a local official told The Daily Beast that the government will need to raise taxes for people who own property in the area. “This is freaking annoying that a scoundrel won’t pay taxes,” the official told the outlet. “My taxes are higher because his taxes are lower.”

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-westchester-golf-course-school-district-1281983/

February 18, 2022

off the grid tent camping/cell phones/power banks

I am able to connect my battery powered laptop at home to my phone's wifi signal . I have several battery packs that keep the phone charged if the power is off for more than 4 hours. I also do this while tent camping when there is no power but yet a wifi signal. If your cell phone does not have this feature you could connect to someone's else's phone that does.

I decided to upgrade all of my technology for tent camping "off the grid"

I now have portable solar panels ----brand Goal Zero --to recharge the battery packs

I replaced my old/tired Dell laptop with a new LG "Gram" laptop that weighs less than 3 pounds and easily connects to my cell phone. It also has a battery that last 12 hours.

The campgrounds cost about $20 per night so I don't really have a big lodging cost. I can easily afford the newer technology.

I must confess that I watch Youtube videos --Amazon----Netflix and get my email and do Zoom meetings with all of this on a fixed SS only income. You might also be able to "pool" the wifi signal through the "hotspot" feature.

My attitude is that communication is the most important part of my life and I create a budget that provides for the best technology. I do not have cable TV for over 15 years now. I got rid of my land line also 10 years ago. Some people ask me "Where do you get your news if you don't have cable TV" ? I ask them where do the 'NOT GET" theirs when they are captive to whatever a "program manager decides to put on cable tv. I have "boots on the ground" reporters at ----https://www.aljazeera.com/tag/ukraine-russia-crisis/

I have over 50 different news websites bookmarked on my laptop----Google Chrome browser" I also use Facebook messenger instead of my phone to call around to my children in London, New York and Charleston. If I ever have to go to assisted living the wifi signal will be the first consideration , but I always plan to have the Iphone. and Ipad as a backup to the laptop.

I am extremely grateful for the people on DU who usually have a pretty good take on current happenings