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 Save this data for this same time next year to complare drumpf's presidency

‪realKyleKeegan‬ ‪@realkylekeegan.bsky.social‬

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13m

Unemployment: 4.1% Inflation: 2.9% 2024 wage gains: 3.9% GDP growth rate: 3%

Jazz Fest 2025

 They're not up as of this post, but the Jazz Fest Cubes should be uploaed any time now at this link https://www.nojazzfest.com/ 

Purchase the 2025 poster at this link  https://art4now.com/products/jazz-fest-2025 

2025 poster by the renowned James Michalopoulos

This Festival - the one against which all others are measured - stands alone in ways that words cannot do justice. Only art is capable of transcending experience beyond imagining, as Jazz Fest itself does. Art alone can convey the Festival’s heart and soul; the diverse musical talent it fosters and showcases and the rich cultural tapestry it celebrates. James Michalopoulos puts Tank at the heart of the Festival's soul. 

THE SUBJECT

Tarriona "Tank" Ball and the band, Tank and the Bangas, anchors James’ panoptic panorama. The band’s eclectic blend of genres geared to the power of Tank’s expressive vocalizations embodies the fresh musical gumbo that New Orleans serves up. Their groove is spiced with soul, R&B, funk, hip-hop, jazz and rock seasoned with electronica to bring out the flavor of Tank’s poetic raps; refined, intricate and oh-so-tasty. Sonic foodies have viewed their 2017 break-out NPR Tiny Desk concert - a mere 6 weeks before they captivated tens of thousands at Jazz Fest with their infectious joy - 14 million times and counting. A nourishing banquet, locally sourced and exported with pride.

Congressional Cat Fight

 

Congressional Representative Jasmine Crockett (Tx) gets under Representative Nancy Mace's (SC) skin by

using a every day African American use of the word child.

Me thinks Ms. Mace is a little too easily offended as she starts to rant and rave about being "called a child".   

Although I find this exchange funny, I miss the days when people elected to any office knew what decorum was.

 

Starling Murmuration

 Watching starling murmuration is relaxing and mezmerizing. Hope you enjoy this beautiful dance in the skies 

video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uV54oa0SyMc
By Marco Valk Nature and Wildlife films
https://www.youtube.com/@MarcoValkvideos

A starling murmuration is a large group of starlings that fly together in a swirling, ever-changing pattern. The term "murmuration" also refers to the shapes the birds create as they move through the sky. 

Starlings murmurate in the fall and winter, and are most impressive in late November or early December. The birds gather in safe, sheltered areas like woodlands, reed beds, and cliffs, and murmurations occur in the early evening before the birds roost for the night. 

Here are some reasons why starlings murmurate:

The large number of birds makes it difficult for predators to single out a single starling. 

Starlings are very social birds, and murmurations are a result of their social nature. 

In the fall, starlings from Eastern Europe and Scandinavia migrate to the UK to escape the cold weather, and these migrants contribute to the spectacle of murmurations. 

Scientists don't fully understand how and why starlings murmurate, but some say that there is no leader in the flock and that each bird imitates its neighbors. 

Monday Smile

 

Monday smile

 

SOUND UP

Truth Cartoon

 

Unfortunate Truth

 

How to Fight Back Against Trump's Threats on Day 1

SOURCE Ben Meiselas and MeidasTouch Network

Jan 2, 2025

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Democratic attorneys general stand ready to counter Trump’s unconstitutional actions.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong isn’t mincing words when it comes to Donald Trump’s looming threats to the Constitution. Speaking with clarity and conviction, Tong made it clear he’s prepared to lead the charge against Trump’s attempts to violate constitutional rights and states’ sovereignty. From dismantling birthright citizenship to trampling on labor rights, Trump’s grandiose claims are being met with equally robust resistance from Tong and his colleagues. These attorneys general are providing an early roadmap for how to use the legal system to neuter Trump’s most dangerous movies on day 1.

“I will be the first to sue Donald Trump,” Tong declared, adding that he and a coalition of 23 Democratic attorneys general already have lawsuits drafted and ready to file. “In Trump 1.0, we created a firewall to stop him, and I have the plan and the recipe for how we will stop him again.”

This isn’t Tong’s first rodeo. As the head of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, he has built a reputation for fiercely defending constitutional principles. Tong, who grew up working in his family’s Chinese restaurant, sees his journey from the kitchen to becoming Connecticut’s attorney general as a testament to what’s possible in the United States. But he also sees Trump’s agenda as a direct threat to that promise.

Tong specifically called out Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship, a move that would violate the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” Tong vowed to defend this cornerstone of American democracy with every tool at his disposal, rallying a broad coalition of Democratic states to resist Trump’s unconstitutional overreach.

Watch now   https://www.meidasplus.com/p/connecticuts-ag-is-showing-how-to?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

 

Terrorist Attack in New Orleans

AT 3:15 on the first day of 2025 a man driving a pickup truck drove around barricades on Canal Street and roared down Bourbon Street. Unconfirmed information  claims the truck crossed the US/Mexico border and drove through Texas to get to New Orleans.

The perpetrator, who sources say is 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar, crashed two vehicles and shot at police officers, injuring two of them before he was shot and killed by police.  But not before he killed 10 people and injured 35.  He was carrying an ISIS flag, wore body armor and had incendiary devices

More unconfirmed info stated that there is an investigation into an AirBNB fire.

Investigators are still working to piece together the details of the vehicle attack. 

RIP Jimmy Carter

 I was a teenager when Watergate happened.  And Vietnam.  

Those were some pretty bad happenings in America.  

But then Jimmy Carter was elected.  He was the good and honest personality that America needed at the time, in my opinion.

There are those that would call him weak or a hillbilly.  I'm sure those people are MAGAs today.

My heart broke at the end of Carter's presidency when he was trying to release hostages held by Iran.    On November 4, 1979, Iranian students seized the US Embassy in Tehran and detained more than 50 Americans, ranging from the Chargé d’Affaires to the most junior members of the staff, as hostages. The Iranians held the American diplomats hostage for 444 days.  More here https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/short-history/iraniancrises

It is now coming to light that incoming sleezeball Ronald Reagan's campaign worked to prevent the  realease the hostages before Election Day.  Link: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/expert-analyzes-new-account-of-gop-deal-that-used-iran-hostage-crisis-for-gain

Despite all of this, Jimmy Carter lived for 40 more years to do so much good for people in need of a hand up.  Here is a recap of his life's work:

Jimmy Carter served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981. He was awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize for work to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development.

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Jimmy Carter aspired to make Government “competent and compassionate,” responsive to the American people and their expectations. His achievements were notable, but in an era of rising energy costs, mounting inflation, and continuing tensions, it was impossible for his administration to meet these high expectations.

Carter, who has rarely used his full name–James Earl Carter, Jr.–was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. Peanut farming, talk of politics, and devotion to the Baptist faith were mainstays of his upbringing. Upon graduation in 1946 from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, Carter married Rosalynn Smith. The Carters have three sons, John William (Jack), James Earl III (Chip), Donnel Jeffrey (Jeff), and a daughter, Amy Lynn.

After seven years’ service as a naval officer, Carter returned to Plains. In 1962 he entered state politics, and eight years later he was elected Governor of Georgia. Among the new young southern governors, he attracted attention by emphasizing ecology, efficiency in government, and the removal of racial barriers.

Carter announced his candidacy for President in December 1974 and began a two-year campaign that gradually gained momentum. At the Democratic Convention, he was nominated on the first ballot. He chose Senator Walter F. Mondale of Minnesota as his running mate. Carter campaigned hard against President Gerald R. Ford, debating with him three times. Carter won by 297 electoral votes to 241 for Ford.

Carter worked hard to combat the continuing economic woes of inflation and unemployment. By the end of his administration, he could claim an increase of nearly eight million jobs and a decrease in the budget deficit, measured in percentage of the gross national product. Unfortunately, inflation and interest rates were at near record highs, and efforts to reduce them caused a short recession.

Carter could point to a number of achievements in domestic affairs. He dealt with the energy shortage by establishing a national energy policy and by decontrolling domestic petroleum prices to stimulate production. He prompted Government efficiency through civil service reform and proceeded with deregulation of the trucking and airline industries. He sought to improve the environment. His expansion of the national park system included protection of 103 million acres of Alaskan lands. To increase human and social services, he created the Department of Education, bolstered the Social Security system, and appointed record numbers of women, blacks, and Hispanics to Government jobs.

In foreign affairs, Carter set his own style. His championing of human rights was coldly received by the Soviet Union and some other nations. In the Middle East, through the Camp David agreement of 1978, he helped bring amity between Egypt and Israel. He succeeded in obtaining ratification of the Panama Canal treaties. Building upon the work of predecessors, he established full diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China and completed negotiation of the SALT II nuclear limitation treaty with the Soviet Union.

There were serious setbacks, however. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the suspension of plans for ratification of the SALT II pact. The seizure as hostages of the U. S. embassy staff in Iran dominated the news during the last 14 months of the administration. The consequences of Iran’s holding Americans captive, together with continuing inflation at home, contributed to Carter’s defeat in 1980. Even then, he continued the difficult negotiations over the hostages. Iran finally released the 52 Americans the same day Carter left office.

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For more information about President Carter, please visit The Jimmy Carter Library and The Carter Center.