“The nation that will insist on drawing a broad line of demarcation between the fighting man and the thinking man is liable to find its fighting done by fools and its thinking done by cowards.” —General William Francis Butler, British Army GCB, PC (Ire) #militaryleadership #integrity #DoD

But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated. —Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea #BookSky #Resilience #Hope

Solo el pueblo salva al pueblo.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. —William Ernest Henley #PoetrySky

Rise like Lions after slumber In unvanquishable number- Shake your chains to earth like dew Which in sleep had fallen on you Ye are many-they are few. --Percy Bysshe Shelley #Liberty #Freedom #PoetrySky

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking. —John Masefield #Freedom #PoetrySky

Slow burn about the last Supreme Court's democracy undermining session, but did a deep dive after Justice Barrett revealed her hidden Serena Joy Waterford in lying about the baselessness of Justice Jackson's critique. CRS analysis: www.congress.gov/crs_external... #democracy #supremecourt #reform

Books I would recommend to others. Sinclair Lewis knew America better than it knew itself: delusional, subject to extremism, and vulnerable to grift. Self-serving platitudes since this book on American exceptionalism fails with the Republican Party, MAGA, Conservatives, and Trump. #Books #BookSky

Thinking Jazz. Metheny and his band were considered fusion at the time, but one only needs to hear "So May It Secretly Begin" to come to the realization that he expresses in music the inner voice in us that says: “I know this. I have lived this. I have felt this.” It’s jazz. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Books I would recommend to others. Few writers can look at themselves and the culture around them and write so honestly and fearlessly as Baldwin did in this work. Even today, it is both shocking and disturbing in its ability to tear down facades of race, love, sex, and self-image. #Books #BookSky

From Valley Dude in 2020 warning about Justice Barrett’s extreme reactionary views on the 14th Amendment and expressing the game-plan of negating it. Aligns with today’s ruling on birthright citizenship. #SupremeCourt #Barrett #14thAmendment www.valleydude70.com/blog-1/2020/...

The radicals on the Supreme Court today handed down this week a set of judicial rulings that are the modern equivalent of the Coercive Acts of 1774. Third American Revolution will be the result, hopefully peaceful and successful. #SupremeCourt #History #Constitution #Liberty

Congressman Frost of Florida gave his State of the District briefing this past weekend. He has done a great deal for Orlando and environs and is well versed on the issues. Key takeaway: issues of oligarchic governance and immigration started in FL first. #AlejandroFrost #CongreemanFrost #Florida10th

Thinking Jazz and feeling blue. Driving to music this morning a bit under the weather and Wes comes on with Hancock on piano, Carter on bass, Tate on drums, and Barretto on percussion along with a full orchestra playing “Eleanor Rigby” and that healing thing happens. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

This man moved to the US when he was 7 years old and had legal permanent residency under a green card. How is this not headline news?

Books I would recommend to others. The template for the corruption and abuse of power we’ve experienced. Defeated by an independent judiciary and strong professional institutions in 1974, our anti-democratic Republican and MAGA insurgents attacked those first. Take it back. #Books #BookSky

Unidentified individuals in balaclavas without a badge taking people is abduction. With the absence of a legal warrant or due process it is criminality. Remember that undocumented status is not a criminal issue, it is a civil one. Local police are usually not aware of the raids. #ICE #DHS #Raids

I agree with the sentiments and did at the time, but it led to the all-volunteer military and the imperial presidency. War powers must never be exercised by one person. When the country is wrong it must course correct and citizens be allowed to protest. The power elite, instead, insulated itself.

Books I would recommend to others. I was a Jersey shore boy before it was overdeveloped and a joke, and later a Florida naturalist. I came across this book at the age of 10. Since then, I learned that dollarized and exploited, what people covet and develop destroys the thing itself. #Books #BookSky

Thinking Jazz. One of the mainstays of bop, by the 1960s Max Roach had fully integrated his music with the social consciousness of equality and civil rights, evolving into post-bop and modal. This album aurally captures the chaotic advances and setbacks of the time. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Books I would recommend to others. I am a product of a good liberal arts education. When I become overwhelmed by the misinformation and fuzzy thinking of our time, I return to science as a restorative. Physics is a precise science, presented here by a giant of the 20th century. #Books #BookSky

Thinking Jazz. You didn't imagine it: I had started to post Nina Simone, but I had honored that album previously. Instead, here is Coltrane at Birdland containing the thoughtful and mournful "Alabama." One of his best across a lifetime of consistent brilliance and exploration. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Books I would recommend to others. Written during the McCarthy era and in light of the Nazi book burnings, Bradbury’s novel is as urgent in its message today. That we have a president mentored by a McCarthy lieutenant speaks volumes. Ignorance and malice doesn’t rest. #Books #BookSky

Final video of scenes from Orlando on 6/14/25. #NoKings #NoTyrants #Liberty #Resistance #Resilience

More scenes from Orlando on 6/14/25. #NoKings #NoTyrants #Liberty #Resistance #Resilience

Some signs and scenes from Orlando on 6/14/25. #NoKings #NoTyrants #Liberty #Resistance #Resilience

Books I would recommend to others. This book is not about battles, it is about the social, political and military events that led to open battle. We are in a similar period today, facing an oppressive neo-Confederate regime, but, instead, having subsumed our central government. #Books #BookSky

Fatty McFascist with Little Mussolini of Tallahassee are going to find that to vets, this not so veiled threat is a challenge, not a warning to heed. In the Services, deadly force is a strictly defined rule and accountability means you answer for your actions. Time to outlaw police unions.

Thinking Jazz. What is old is new again. Music for liberty, and liberation from oppression and autocracy. Haden looked back to connect the dots to how Vietnam disfigured American institutions in his time, which we are still dealing with half a century later. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Books I would recommend to others. Though our present circumstances are unique in the challenges that confront us by a dictatorial madman in the White House, Americans have faced more insurmountable challenges. Time to step up. Give this a read and become part of the solution. #Books #BookSky

After listening to Gavin Newsom’s powerful speech, Kaitlin Collins’ take was that the California governor “attacked what Trump has done over the past several months.” Another corporate media tool. It’s not what the rest of us heard. #CNN #CorporateMedia #PoliticalTools

Hello. I live in Los Angeles. The president is lying.

Books I would recommend to others. Non-violent resistance is based on “holding onto the truth.” Authoritarianism depends on a core of true believers combined with compliance and collaboration by the populace. Here Gandhi teaches active resistance and how to disrupt that base. #Books #BookSky

Books I would recommend to others. The best book on the lie of “warrior ethos” that mines the chaotic disfiguring power of America’s self-delusional war in Vietnam. That the post 9-11 wars resurrected these dark human faults makes our own times a prelude to the disaster to come. #Books #BookSky

Spouse: Do you think the majority of Supremes are sorry about their awful ruling on Presidential immunity now? Me: They just allowed the president to remove protections from 500k legal immigrants using the emergency docket. Spouse: I hadn’t kept up. Now I’m upset. #SupremeCourt #Legitimacy #Tyranny

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark? I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart, I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars. I am the red man driven from the land, I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-- And finding only the same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

Bombus (Cullumanobombus) griseocollis (brown-belted bumble bee) on Firebush in Central Florida. #Gardening #entomology #nature #pollinators

Zebra Longwing Butterfly (Heliconius charithonia) in my garden this week. The Florida state butterfly. #Gardening #entomology #nature #pollinators

Books I would recommend to others. Most have seen the movie, but the book is the epitome of writing economy, condensing a trove of primary sources and interviews of the invasion to liberate Europe. The focus is on the men who fought and those who gave the last full measure. #Books #BookSky

Books I would recommend to others. “The Naked and the Dead” provides a perspective on war that most histories miss: the stupidity, horror, moral injury, and meaningless of battle cannot be papered over by words, medals, and talk of heroics. Better be just to ask for this sacrifice. #Books #BookSky

Thinking Jazz. Booker Ervin produced one of the best albums of the 1960s and Freedom Book is it. Modern hard bop and covering all of the themes of the time, his muscular tenor sax sets the stage for group interplay and improvisation. A desert isle disc. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Books I would recommend to others. Memorial Day is arriving. Here, Halberstam writes of a war that most people preferred to overlook and--as a result--one shrouded in mystery, misunderstanding, and ignorance. The author shines a light on power and its inherent hubris. Essential. #Books #BookSky

Behind on Posting Jazz. San Fran was always a great town for Navy and the Fairmont Hotel its crown jewel. McCorkle was a great songstress at the height of her talents when I saw her sing there. She breathed new life into standards and mined meaning from every song. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Sunday Jazz. Creed Taylor brought Turrentine and other Blue Note talent into CTI, updating their sound to much controversy. In hindsight, this album with Freddie Hubbard, George Benson, Ron Carter, and Billy Kaye from Van Gelder's studio is a high point in his discography. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Books I would recommend to others. How do you navigate hate and ignorance and still work to make the world a better place? Parks is one of the 20th century’s greatest photographers. He writes about being black in America up until the 1960s. #Books #BookSky

Last Call in America by Fishbone is a Great Song and the video is awesome! Check it out! youtu.be/OxfTe-VPSRw #LastCallInAmerica #Fishbone #GeorgeClinton

“You keep on saying that word, but I don’t think it means what you think it means.” #Comey #FreeExpression #FirstAmendment

Friday Jazz. Whenever I need to find my grounding and chill out a bit, I return to Horace Silver. The core quintet he had worked with for five years were at their peak when this album came out. The title track introduces a young Joe Henderson, just beginning to shine. #Music #Jazz #JazzSky

Books I would recommend to others. In this important work, Yacovone demonstrates just how deeply ingrained is the meme of white supremacy in our educational system and, as a result, our social systems. As a result, it is up to all of us to address this reality and correct it. #Books #BookSky

On the issue of Birthright Citizenship, there is terrible historical precedent if the Court does not find what is clearly written. In my monograph, "The Spanish Pacification of the Philippines," (www.academia.edu/84559924/The...) I explored the social roots of the Spanish Reconquista 1/3