Miscellaneous Observations and Thoughts as We Wave Goodbye to 2024

"I've got my back to the sun 
because the light is too intense."
--Bob Dylan

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Do you make new year resolutions? What goals have you resolved to do this year? Lose weight? Improve finances? Be more generous? Quit drinking? Learn a new skill or take up a new hobby?

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Four big stories in the news today, January 2, 2025: 
New Orleans attack
Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas
Puerto Rico power outage
and the looming debt ceiling. 

Regarding the national debt: when will the leaders of this country seriously address this issue? For me, it's a bit like the Founding Fathers on the slavery issue. "We'll let the next generation deal with it." We all know how that turned out, a bloodbath known as the Civil War. 

Regarding the power outage in Puerto Rico: This is another example ofwhy we can't take our electric grid for granted. There is no way we as a nation can meet our future power needs without nuclear energy. Our energy policies must be driven by reality-based common sense, not wishful thinking. Note: In Puerto Rico the temps are perpetually 70 to 90 degrees. Not so here in our frigid Northland. I really, really don't want our water pipes to freeze. 

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In addition to watching or listening to music videos on YouTube, the music streaming service I use is Tidal. At the end of the month Tidal provides you with a recap of the top five artists you tuned in to. Here is my top 5 from January:

1. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
2. Bob Dylan
3. Peter, Paul and Mary
4. Christian Lindberg
5. Gioachini (Antonio) Rossini

What artists have you been listening to?

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"Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

--Psalm 90:12

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Related: Check out Updike's Four Life Forces.

Mixed Up Confusion

"Makes you ashamed to live in a land where justice is a game...." ~Dylan

In a world as interconnected as ours, there are simply too many things happening to make comments on them all, or even to follow them all. In point of fact, when the Casey Anthony verdict came down yesterday I was not even aware the trial was still going on. I have not been following this soap opera. It only took ten minutes to understand why this story has mesmerized so many. I mean, Casey Anthony's daughter was missing and she was off partying, getting tattoos and not reporting it to the police for a month.

The Twitterverse was universally outraged on the verdict, and the blogosphere was equally abuzz. One of the more creative blogs on the story was at a site called Maxi's Comments by a writer named Maxi Malone. Since Casey Anthony was such an inventive story teller, Ms. Malone uses fiction to tell a story as well... this one being Caylee's story. Its riveting opening makes this inventive blog entry quite a compelling read.

Hi, my name is Caylee Marie Anthony. Do you like stories? I love stories … and I … do you wanna hear my story? It’s not about dolls and stuff, it’s about Magic.

If you have been following the story, yesterday's verdict no doubt churned your stomach. If you've not been following it... well.... I'm gonna have to turn the page.