94 Comments
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Pat Goudey OBrien's avatar

Every little bit of good news is like a balm, Mr. Truscott. And we thank you for scouring our world and bringing it to us.

I am SO sincere in saying I depend on the kind of people I “encounter” in places like this forum to help me keep the thought that our world can get through this, because good people are in it.

ROBERT EVANS's avatar

So true, Pat, there had to be people in Nazi Germany that hated everything that 3 was going on around them but who dare not even give hint of their feeling or some informer would turn them over to the Gestapo. Some even risked their lives to shelter Jewish neighbors. Thankfully we are not at that point yet but state and city officials are on the verge of being prosecuted for nothing more than defending the rights i of citizens against the brutal tactics of ICE. Meantime Trump has pardoned 44 white collar criminals, not to mention the January 6 thugs. Some criminals he pardoned had been convicted but had not yet started to serve their sentence

Think of all the taxpayer dollars and valuable time the prosecutor's spent securing these convictions, all for nothing. I'm sure some prosecutors would be very hestatnt to bring charges against anyone who might have even a remote connection to Trump. As would be all for naught.

er. .

RJM's avatar

Yes, Robert Evans, and not to forget Juan Orlando Hernández, the former president of Honduras and drug overlord, pardoned because he paid off he who cannot be named (because of the gag reflex).

Pat Ebervein's avatar

And it's exciting to know there are judges out there who still have a backbone and act according to the law. Loving it!

celeste k.'s avatar

Yes, good people indeed. Thankfully, there are more good than not.

Frank Kane's avatar

"There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin sick soul".

Pat Goudey OBrien's avatar

To make the wounded whole …

Keep on keeping on …

Joan Nassivera's avatar

At last: a bit of good news!

Runfastandwin's avatar

here's what I do when I'm feeling down about all of it, turn off the lights and listen to Joni Mitchell for an hour or two with only the lights from the stereo. it's very therapeutic.

Ransom Rideout's avatar

I just came in from my car after listening to Bruce Springsteen on Sirius for an hour or so for my evening tonic. I gotta get a new radio/ cd player again so I can listen in the house we rented after the fire. LPs, CDs and every music anything gone in the fire. I had a lot.

I understand just what you mean.

Robin D's avatar

I truly am so sorry and feel for you. I am a physical media collector too and have an eclectic collection. I don't think I could recreate it. I do have some of.my faves ripped on my computer. Many items hard to find now I assume. Did you just sit in the car with it off listening to Bruce? Love listening to music in a.car..

Ransom Rideout's avatar

Comfortable seats and Boze sound system. I finally bought an EV last December because the US 101 and I-5 had finally gotten a reasonable charging network besides Testicula. Planning to put in the home hook up and the fire hit before my electrician could get there. LIsting the old hi fi stuff will bring you to tears. Being artists, we had all the first NYC art scene LPs and thousands of everything else worth having. Time to do without and just DO.

Robin D's avatar

I know. So funny 😂.

Robin D's avatar

The reason I asked is my sister keeps a car in NYC and sometimes she just gets in, and drives with Sirius blasting. Glad at least you had the car and a good sound system. There is nothing more devastating than fire. Thankfully you are okay and no one was hurt, but I feel your pain. I can't even imagine what you lost, including art. 😥 First you cry.. I've been robbed of irreplaceable items. So painful, but I'm at the point in my life where things have become a burden, so I understand your last line implicitly. "Time to do without and just DO.". Powerful. 🙏

Runfastandwin's avatar

oh man that sucks! I have a digital jukebox called a Brennan, it holds like 4000 cd’s and also streams. it has its own amp too. we gave away all our vinyl like 15 years back. and we gave all the cds to my grandkids along with a small player, they don’t listen to them a lot though. but they are both still young so hopefully in the future.

Ransom Rideout's avatar

The art Lps are not on digital and there is a richness and ambience on vinyl, that digital sampling rate will never equal. If you grow up on digital and mever go to live music you will never know the real sound. Working in NY back in the early 70s I would hit Basil's, the Gate and the Bluenote on way to wherever I was staying almost every night. There is nothing close to the richness of the room except on tape and vinyl.

Runfastandwin's avatar

That is so very true but at my age sadly I can no longer hear the difference.

Robot Bender's avatar

Yeah, that's a great station.

Robin D's avatar

Court & Spark?

Runfastandwin's avatar

also Blue and The Hissing of Summer Lawns

Robin D's avatar
4dEdited

Beautiful, that's the Joni I don't listen to. I only own C&S. 'm more into.San Fracisco groups like Airplane and classic rock. My first fave at 12 or 13 (had an older sister with great taste) and still 50+ years later is Laura Nyro. Lifelong fan.. This Joni is more accessible.to me. Love to listen with headphones and darkened lights..Does that make sense? More.rock/jazzy than.the others..She is wonderful. I Heard her several years ago for the first.time in many years, and she had a deep, smokey voice. I didn't realkze it was her until I looked at the TV.

Runfastandwin's avatar

Laura Nyro is one of the greats for sure.

Lawrence Dietz's avatar

Jan Dismas Zelenka (brilliant, mostly overlooked, Czech baroque composer) Trio Sonatas with Heinz Holliger on oboe also do the trick.

Runfastandwin's avatar

I will have to explore that! I love the oboe...

Lawrence Dietz's avatar

Another lovely oboe piece, Telemann's Oboe Concerto in E Minor. Recommend the most elegiac interpretation of the first movement I know of, by I Solisti Di Zagreb, on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp7xbaaNlho&t=743s.

Lady Emsworth's avatar

I find the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 is a real boost - those first few notes that encompass all the sorrow in the world - and then the fight and determination in the phrases that follow. The hope - and a final joyous acclamation of all that is good and worth fighting for in the world. Even when i'm on my own, I find myself standing up at the end and clapping. It's a terrifically uplifting piece.

Not enough people listen to classic music nowadays - if you haven't heard it, give it a try. But - be warned! It's liable to make you want to go out and punch an ICE agent on the nose!

https://youtu.be/KDJ6Wbzgy3E?si=cGnm3NUGdtYJupJb

GARY MOYER's avatar

It makes me wonder how long it takes for something to be genius certified?

For instance, how long will it take for the Moody Blues (To Our Children’s Children’s Children) to be not just Classic, but Classical.

Or not.

celeste k.'s avatar

THAT brought a smile! I wonder how many young people know who Joni Mitchell is! I hope they find out, they'll love her!

Carol-Ann Dearnaley's avatar

Whew! Too close for comfort.

Amy in Seattle's avatar

Thank you for the update!

Karen Simmons's avatar

Such good news! When I saw what RFKjr was trying to do I immediately thought of Tuskegee. The worth of each life is lost on this regime.

James Vander Poel's avatar

Good news about the cancellation of the study. But I have a feeling that the judge's order vis-a-vis the ICE is going to be dealt with the same way others have been: in large part, ignored.

David Skoglund's avatar

Who is going to enforce the judges ruling?

KATHERINE H. TERHUNE's avatar

Oh my goodness, BAM, here’s a development we did NOT see coming - and the reasoning is such TRUTH, viable, and a component all along, until this significant cancellation, is clearly the outlook of human beings as disposable…! Fie on them, as my brother used to declare!

Wow! Thank you, Lucian, for posting this marvelous update! Will watch to see if the story pops up elsewhere.

Thank you for the great news!!!

Ted Miller's avatar

I thought of the Tuskegee syphilis "experiment" when you mentioned the Hep B so-called "trial" in Africa in your last column. That this administration thinks people living on the African continent are "less than" white Americans (and white South Africans) is no secret.

Mac McConnell's avatar

Hang in there, brother. We have so much that we’re going to go through, and we need your straight talk. You’re carrying a lot of our load out here.

Meanwhile, I’m putting signs at the front of our house that say “WOKE“ and “We Are Minneapolis”.

Geneveive Griffin's avatar

The Tuskegee study was on poor, uneducated BLACK men. Even worse.

Claudia Classon's avatar

Thanks for the good news update, Lucian. I think I’ll be able to sleep better tonight. I hope you will, too.

Lor's avatar

Thank you for this moment of clarity. Moments of hope in such darkness do exist….

Stephen H Leasia's avatar

Thanks for sharing this piece of good news re: cancellation! As you show every day, people can make a difference with their voice and concerted action. We can, with courage, turn the tide and stop the slide. 👍👍👍

Donald Nathan's avatar

The cloud won’t disappear until at least November 3. Everybody better get out there and register to vote.

Unless God strikes both Trump and Vance down