Jensen Huang and the spy

Mark Kelly

Above is a new interview by Timothy Snyder of Senator Mark Kelly on how Democrats should move ahead after the election.

Hakeem Jeffries

Hakeem Jeffries was on This Morning today. He gives a preview of what will be on the House's agenda now that the Democrats will be in control.

Josh Shapiro on Meet the Press

I like him. I remember him on MSNBC a lot yeaars ago when there were worries about election tampering and he was then the Attorney General of Pennsylvania.

Canticle of the Turning

From the halls of power to the fortress tower, not a stone will be left on stone.
Let the king beware for your justice tears every tyrant from his throne.

The hungry poor shall weep no more, for the food they can never earn;
There are tables spread, every mouth be fed, for the world is about to turn.

Pete on how the Dems should go forward

Keith Relf

The Yardbirds ...

The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ranked in the top five of Rolling Stone magazine's 2011 list of 100 greatest guitarists.

But still I liked the singer, Keith Relf, the best. Died when he was just 33.

Andrew Weissmann

Andrew Weissmann talks about what can/should be done , now that the Democrats will have control of the House and Senate ...

Election results

Yay! So many wins for the Democrats. Even in Texas. Even in Kansas. And Iowa too. I don't know what kind of difference this will make in our lives, but it seems like things can only get better, given how bad they are right now.

Haley Stevens

There's much in the news about Michigan representative Haley Stevens' decision to vote for a Republican instead of Abdul El-Sayed in the upcoming election. Many Democrats are really angry at her and find her sudden switch imcomprehensible.

I don't know why she changed her mind, but I can think of one reason why she might have.

As a congressperson, Stevens represents a large Jewish constituency with whom she has maintained a close relationship.

A lot of Jewish people in Michigan are worried about the rising tide of sentiment against them. It was not long ago that there was an attack on a synagogue there (Attack on Michigan synagogue was Hezbollah-inspired 'act of terrorism,' FBI says).

Some of the campaign rhetoric by or for El-Sayed has been anti-Israel - he has often implied that giving foreign aid to Israel (but not other countries?) is taking money away from people in Michigan. And then there's the video ad for El-Sayed by The Young Turks (Hasan Piker's uncle) in which Israel is blamed for high grocery prices in the US (The Wall Street Journal: Blaming the Jews for Everything in Michigan).

And Haley Stevens' fiance is Jewish also, which probably added to her decision.

I can see people being mad because she changed her mind at the last minute. She's ruined her political career and El-Sayed is doing even better in the polls, but she made the choice she wanted to make. That's her right.

Finally, an example I came across today of how Israel has become an issue in this Michigan election. A reporter from CNN asked both El-Sayed and Stevens whether they believed Israel had a right to exist. El-Sayed would not answer the question directly, but (1) implied Michigan's tax dollars were going to Israel instead of Michigan, though aid to Israel is under 1% of the total federal budget, (2) said Israel is committing genocide and apartheid, which is only true if you make up new definitions for those words, and (3) described a future Israel he would accept ... a one state solution ... that would end Israel as a Jewish state.

Democrat fail

First there was the choice of flawed candidate Graham Platner.

Then, in Alaska, Democratic operatives have tried to trick voters into voting for someone they didn't mean to choose (The New York Times: Inside Democrats' Secret Effort to Stack Alaska's Ballot).

And then there's the El-Sayed campaign ...

El-Sayed has put out an ad using Tucker Carlson and other MAGA figures as spokespersons against Mike Rogers (Newsweek: Abdul El-Sayed Woos MAGA Voters With Ad Touting Conservative Praise) ...



Andc there is also an ad for El-Sayed in which people at the grocery store blame US aid to Israel for high food prices in the US. The ad was created by The Young Turks (Yahoo: Inside the origins of the Pro-El-Sayed Grocery prices ad) ...

Abdul El-Sayed blames Israel for the price of your eggs and bananas, even though he knows that higher grocery prices are only due to supply, energy and inflation factors. Shame on anyone voting for a candidate who uses Antisemitic talking points to win an election. https://t.co/pk5lQweZAf

— Joel M. Petlin (@Joelmpetlin) October 25, 2026

The defense for this taking of the low road by my own political party seems to be "victory at all costs". In other words, the ends justify the means.

I think this is loathsome.

RIP: Patrick Stewart

So sad to see that actor Patrick Stewart has passed away :(



I was aware of him way before his roles in Star Trek and The X-Men (and The Avengers). He was in the BBC tv movie I, Claudius (1976) ... I had to watch as I had read the books I, Claudius and Claudius the God. And I saw him in Excalibur (1981) and Dune (1984).

But I will always like him best as Captain Picard of the starship Enterprise. He was an example to me, so wise, always doing what was right.

Here is the end of the last episode of the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, titled All Good Things..., in which Captain Picard joins the crew's poker game for the very first time ...

Election results explained

Results of the Israeli election explained by The Free Press and Haviv Rettig Gur ...

CA billionaires tax

Billionaires shatter spending record to fight California wealth tax

What a bunch of whiners and cheapskates! I've already voted by mail, and voted for the one time tax on billionaires (Proposition 40).

Here is Gabriel Zucman, a French economist and professor known for his research on global wealth inequality ...

Voting in Israel

Live election results

Tommy Shaw

Styx, Blue Collar Man, Tommy Shaw singing, 1978.

And here is Styx again, Too Much Time on My Hands, Tommy Shaw singing, 2020 ...

Dr. Alex :)

I've been watching his medical videos and get his daily health newsletter, but he is now also launching a recipe thingy as well.

Upcoming Israeli election

Haviv on the election, addressing why Gaza is not an issue ....



Here is the whole interview with Haviv and The Free Press (CBS) on the election ...

RIP: Tom Skerritt

Sad to see that actor Tom Skerritt has passed away. I remember him from a number of movies.

I think the first film I saw him in was The Turning Point, which I only watched because ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov was also in it :) ...

The Turning Point is a 1977 American drama film centered on the world of ballet in New York City .... It stars Shirley MacLaine and Anne Bancroft, along with Leslie Browne, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Tom Skerritt. It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards ...



But, back to Tom Skerritt. The next film of his I especially remember, is, of course, Alien. I went to see the movie with my friend Steve - my sister and his wife were both too scared to go ...

Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott .... It follows a commercial starship crew who investigate a derelict space vessel and are hunted by a deadly extraterrestrial creature. The film stars Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto.



The next film was The Dead Zone ...

a 1983 American science fiction thriller film directed by David Cronenberg. The screenplay, by Jeffrey Boam, is based on the 1979 novel of the same title by Stephen King. The film stars Christopher Walken, Brooke Adams, Tom Skerritt, Herbert Lom, Martin Sheen, Anthony Zerbe, and Colleen Dewhurst.



The next one was Top Gun but you all know about that, so, on to Contact ...

a 1997 American science fiction drama film co-produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis, based on the 1985 novel by Carl Sagan. It stars Jodie Foster as Dr. Eleanor "Ellie" Arroway, a SETI scientist who finds evidence of extraterrestrial life and is chosen to make first contact. Matthew McConaughey, James Woods, Tom Skerritt, William Fichtner, John Hurt, Angela Bassett, Rob Lowe, Jake Busey, and David Morse co-star.



There are many others, of course, but these are the ones that stick with me. He was a good actor. He will be missed.

Lovely to See You

Moody Blues, Paris, 1970, Lovely to See You, written and sung by Justin Hayward. One of my favorites.