Kenny's Music

This was Kennys latest gig, an outdoor bluegrass session with some musicians he threw together a couple of weeks prior to rehearse material. Bluegrass is not their primary interest, but all of them are longtime players who can chameleon themselves as needed to serve the venue. The bass player, Addison, is a decades longtime friend and accompanist who now teaches at the local music conservatory, and the fiddle player, Rachael, is a local musician who performs with whomever requests her skills. Often Kenny performs solo,performing original material by incorporating a loop track to which he adds live harmonies and guitar or trumpet overlays. He also plays in a rock band comprised of old and new friends, so to his inborn talent he has been true. His girlfriend of two years, Maddie, and he have moved into his deceased fathers house so he also cooks for a local bar restaurant for steady money; anyone familar with music or artists in general knows that it is extremely difficult in this society to earn a living...>"On average, online music streaming platforms pay rights holders between $0.001 and $0.015 per stream... platforms do not pay a fixed, flat rate per play. Instead, they pool their monthly revenue and distribute it based on "streamshare"—the artist's percentage of total plays on the platform. Furthermore, the gross payout goes to the rights holders (labels, distributors, publishers) first, who then take their cut before paying the artist"<

Reality

Just thought I'd post these bed head photos I woke up with this morning. Despite the sometimes serious tone of my blogs, I do laugh at myself, as does Beth. Much of our relationship is laughter, which helps us to defuse the state of the world around us.

More Summer Flowers

....These flowers were alongside a short dead end road near the lake, in the woods but with enough sunlight to give them time and room to grow. The false purple thistle had four bees on it at once, which meant that it was one of the most nutrient rich blossoms there, but I also was surprised to see how popular the more abundant cow parsnip was. Both honey and bumblebees rushed over it in an agitated manner as they collected pollen to their pollen sacks. The commom mullein did not have bees on the flowers although the blossoms were jut emerging, and there was also some red bee balm, fleabane,goldenrod and black eyed susans. It was apparent that that small patch of roadside had been well utilized within the dense forest... While some of the lakeshore too has flowers, much of the surrounding land is wetlands, so the bees take advantage where they can.

July Woods

I started what would have been a 4 mile loop hike in the forest today, circling along a route that I have not travelled in 8 years. My memory of the path, which began on an oil lease road before diverging onto lesser used jeep and ATV trails,was accurate, but time had overgrown one section so much that I doubted my progress. So I retraced my steps and took another path that I hoped would intersect with the original route on top of a ridge. Unfortunately, that trail ended at an old pumpjack-as many paths in the Allegheny forest do. Because it is unwise to bushwack in these woods due to the many old oil and logging roads where it is easy to become lost,I backtracked the full distance to the car. It is possible to approach the loop from the opposite direction, so I will do that someday to complete the circle...Despite not having finished my original intention, a walk is never a failure regardless of it's direction. Along the way I was distracted by a green crab spider that had caught a...parasitic wasp? on some flowers. I had made a conscious effort to look closely at the blossoms rather than simply glancing as people often do, and so this prey and predator drama was unfolding as unceasingly as on any African plain. Thoreau had once written, "Thus each wind is self registering", one interpretation being that we have to look to see. Elsewhere,the bumblebees were pollinating the obscure flowers mid-woods,even when single blossoms were separated by 15 yards or more. They are an adaptable species that seem to be attracted to nearly every flower-much more generalist feeders than honeybees. The prominent woods butterflies now are Tiger Swallowtails and Fritillaries, and even on a mountaintop one sees dragonflies and frogs in the puddles.

Ukraine

With the death of Mr. Lindsey, who urged Mr. Trump to support Ukraine and be tougher on Russia, I hope Mr. Trump honors that legacy…Coincidentally, there was a meeting in Warren last night with a visit by Olga Piasecka-Niec`, who manages the Tkanka community center in Krakow, Poland for refugees from Ukraine. The center was among the first to be established in 2022 and has continued to expand its mission as the war drags on. The center helps mostly women and children heal from the trauma of the war by providing a safe place to learn new skills and figure out what to do. Men between the ages of 18-65 are prohibited from leaving Ukraine, so the separation of over 4 years in some cases has caused deep changes in the husbands, boyfriends and relatives who are still alive and the wives, girlfriends and children living in Poland-or other refugee countries; War is a terrible thing with long lasting repercussions that affect generations…The Ukraine military reports that 1,420,690 Russians have been killed or wounded since the war began, including over 1,500 the past day. Ukrainian losses are less but still decimating the smaller country. This carnage was instigated by a man who hides behind bodyguards and platitudes of empire building and cares nothing about the human beings at his disposal. It is sobering to contemplate the misery that people claiming nationalism, religion or bigotry have caused throughout human history… So Olga continues to do what she can to spread the better angels of human nature, but says that many of the original shelters have closed due to lack of support and funding. Here in Warren the Sokolski Family Foundation, established by Andrew Sokolski, a philanthropist associated with a local manufacturer named WhirleyDrinkWorks, is the primary supporter of Tkanka. In addition, informational fund raising visits by Olga and others help the mission survive and expand…Meanwhile, the family we are sponsoring in Ukraine have obtained paperwork to seek refuge-hopefully in Denmark. The four years of war with recent nearby missile explosions and casualties have exhausted them. We continue to support their efforts with money and moral encouragement, but it seems petty and powerless within the larger political quagmire.

Inflation, or, the rich stay rich...

Beth and I went to Walmart yesterday for some food ranging from jello to sugar to rotisserie chicken to bagged spinach to frozen bread, where the total quantity of items did Not fill two grocery bags. We were surprised to see the final cost was $85 and some change. The most expensive individual item was a gift card worth $15. Both of us wondered how anyone on a limited income could possibly afford to feed their families.The chart below tracks Walmart prices in a California store since 2024,which clearly shows that the items tracked outpaced inflation by a substantial amount-as indicated by the following data: "The cumulative inflation rate from July 2024 to July 2026 was approximately 7.2%, reflecting a steady compounded increase in consumer prices. Over these two years, trailing 12-month annual inflation fluctuated between roughly 2.5% and 4.2% as the broader economy dealt with energy price volatility." (Click on the chart to enlarge it)

Obviously the billionaires-including the Walton family and Mr. Trump- are benefitting themselves regardless of any claims to the opposite. "Donald Trump made over 1.4 billion..( closer to 2.8 counting other family members) from cryptocurrency ventures, including a massive windfall from the TRUMP memecoin launched just before his inauguration. However, the projects operated as a "rug pull," with retail investors losing an estimated $3.8 billion as the memecoin collapsed 98% from its peak." So, how his supporters maintain their unwavering loyalty is simply astonishing. Perhaps most of the support is now dependent on the fear of 'immigration/socialism' or 'fraudulent election' schemes?..At any rate, it is a common theme throughout history for those in power to blame others for the state of the world, deflecting to immigration or welfare or religion or some other fear mongering theme-often with racist overtones- so that the populace does not look Up towards them and their often corrupt ways of hoarding wealth and resources to keep the 'common folk' suppressed. This is not to denigrate capitalism, just the moral and ethical failures that sustain parts of human nature.

Everywhere U.S.A.

...News report from 2020: >"WARREN, Pa. – Bluestem Brands announced Monday, in a letter to employees, it would be discontinuing warehousing and fulfillment operations at the Irvine Distribution Center by the end of April 2021. In the letter, obtained by Your Daily Local, the company said it would be moving operations to its Eatonton, Ga. location. The move means positions in Irvine will be eliminated. “This was a difficult decision based on reduced inventory levels that have been years in the making and an expensive lease with limited options,” the letter said. The company went on to say that termination dates are likely to begin in March and that employees would be provided at least 60 days advance notice of their termination date as required by the WARN. Bluestem filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, and a plan was approved in a Delaware court in August that would allow the company to continue operations." ...

...This abandoned warehouse is about 8 miles west of Warren where clothing used to be distributed. The Blair corporation was originally in downtown Warren where the distribution of clothing manufactured around the world was processed. It was one of the large employers in the area, of which there are a few remaining-including a manufacturer of crankshafts for heavy industry also located in Irvine. The latter has defense and aerospace contracts that insure continuing employment. I walk around these buildings sometimes where a few of the loading docks now warehouse Cummings engine material and a local manufacturer of plastic cups. This empty warehouse is representative of many similar losses around the country,well documented in the media. If some of the environmental,security, and energy problems could be addressed, this facility would offer an isolated location for an AI data center. It is next to the Allegheny river and railroad tracks, and probably could overcome whatever local resistance would arise from the poor, Republican citizenry dominating this part of America. ... "The Bluestem Brands distribution center in Irvine, PA (located at 100 Murray Dr), originated as the fulfillment and warehousing hub for Warren-based Blair Corporation. Orchard Brands acquired Blair in the 2000s, and Bluestem Brands subsequently acquired Orchard Brands in 2015. Bluestem fully discontinued warehousing and fulfillment operations at the 240-employee Irvine facility in April 2021."