Notes_Norton

I agree. Most of the world's environmental problems IMO are caused by too many people having too many babies. But nobody seems to want to address that problem, probably because corporations (who control the media) need more and more customers to feed their need for perpetual growth. I read a university report that said if everybody painted their roofs white, it could buy us 100 years before the climate hits the point of no return. And yes, when 40% of the energy used is for AC units, and energy use is a huge CO2 contributor plus the cumulative effect of the heat islands caused by the AC units are adding to the problem, requiring more AC, heating up the earth more, requiring even more AC, etc., I can see that as a feedback loop. Over 99% of all the humans that have ever lived have done so without AC. It's not something we need. Conversely, when you are not acclimated to summer's heat because you live in a 78 degree box, when the heat waves come and when the power goes out, or even when you go outdoors, your body isn't ready for the heat, and it becomes more dangerous to your health. Personally, I think we should do everything we can to stall off the possible extinction of humanity. I painted my roof white, planted over 30 trees on my half acre, do not use AC, do not grow a lawn but instead use native plants, drive a fuel efficient vehicle, hang my laundry on the solar clothes dryer (clothesline), generate about 1 cubic foot of garbage per week, prefer to buy needed items if I can find them without plastic packaging, got 'fixed' after my second child, and so on. My children are grown up now, if I were young today, I would have limited my offspring to one. The world's population has almost tripled since I had my kids. There are places regularly flooding during high tides in Ft. Lauderdale that never-ever flooded when I was a child. That condo that just collapsed in Miami had regular ocean water flooding in the bottom floors for years now, not when it was built. When I was a child, if the temperature was over 85 degrees, it made front page news in the local paper. Now 90s are common. The solution is not to use more CO2 generating energy, but less. Of course, the biggest solution is population reduction. Unfortunately, I don't see that happening and I can't think of a way that the leaders and populations of every country in the world would agree on how to do that if a solution was presented. Insights and incites by Notes

Thinks Ain't What They Used To Be - Gene Harris Trio plus Stanley Turrentine I love Gene's playing, you can always hear the joy in it, and Stanley is one of my favorite Tenor Sax players.

Misty Morning - Bob Marley and the Wailers (double word score)

What are we doing to ourselves? 40% of the world's energy use is consumed by air conditioners. That puts a lot of CO2 into the atmosphere which warms the planet. Plus the AC unit creates a little heat island where it exhausts the hot air. That also warms the planet. So as the planet warms up, the AC works harder, uses more energy and heats the earth up even more. And as the earth gets hotter the AC works even harder so we need more AC which heats the planet up more so we need more AC. This seems like a feedback loop to me. I painted my roof bright white, got rid of my lawn and planted shade trees all around my house. When it's 95 degrees outside, it's still about 80 inside, without using the AC. The only time I turn my AC on is when guests who are AC addicted visit us. Since COVID arrived, that has been zero. We need to do something to stop this feedback loop. Insights and incites by Notes

Silly Little Lava Songs All You Need Is Lava I Lava The Night Life Addicted To Lava Lava Shack You Can't Hurry Lava Stupid Lava Can't Help Falling In Lava Whole Lotta Lava The Look Of Lava All Out Of Lava (somebody please stop me)

Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) - George Harrison

I may be dense, I didn't get the connection with "You" but I'll go with it. You You You - The Ames Brothers (triple word score)

The Queen Symphony - Tolga Kashif On first listening, I think the parts where he isn't quoting songs from Queen are better than the parts where he is quoting. But it's my first listening. Sometimes symphonies take a few listenings to evaluate.

The Dream - G-Sus (A cute name for a Christian music band. We discovered them while compiling a Christian fake e-disk for Band-in-a-Box.)

Nah, El Condor Pasa birds. Next up they will sing, "I'd rather be an eagle than a wren, or a hen, then again, I had no choice"

The Banana Boat Song (Day-O) - Harry Belafonte

Thanks, Pragi. Mr.Watson left us too soon. Superman Lover - Johnny 'Guitar' Watson

I'm Hip - Blossom Dearie And by the songwriter, Dave Frishberg

Loan Me A Dime - Boz Scaggs & Duane Allman

Get On The Good Foot - James Brown

Suavecito - Malo

If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

Sadly, Steve, you are correct. It is illegal in the USA, so there aren't nearly as many as there used to be, because it is no longer institutional. There is still a lot of prejudice in the USA, and that is very sad. There have always been "The Others", those who don't look like us and/or those with different customs and traditions. White/Black, Arab/Jew, Anglo/Latino, the list goes on and on. I'm guessing that in the millions of years of pre-history, 'the others' might try to steal your resources, so it was good to fear them. And we know all through history of one group conquering another for resources the Huns, the English, the Spanish, the Americans, the Greeks, the Romans, the Hans, the Mongolians, the Austrians, the Germans, the Hutu, Serbs, and this list goes on and on as well. We still have wars, but live, cold and economic with 'the others', and I suppose it will never be fixed in my lifetime, but I don't have to participate in hating 'the others' just because they are different. I wish I knew a cure for this, but alas, I don't. Notes

When I moved from New York to Florida, there were separate schools, separate drinking fountains, separate restrooms, and a lot of prejudice. My father sat me down and explained why that was wrong. My dad would agree with your dad, and so do I. One of my uncles changed his last name when he went into politics. At that time, anyone with a vowel at the end of their name (Italian) couldn't get elected to dogcatcher. Most of his siblings changed it as well, which is why I'm a "Norton". The black people can't do that, and there is no reason why they should have to. We need to realize that we are all just people. Notes

There cannot be justice, since by now all the slave owners are dead. IMO, It's good to remember the past to learn from it, but there is no way to punish the people who were guilty after they are gone. My grandparents came to the USA from Italy long after slavery was abolished. At one time in history, the proto-Italians were enslaved by the Greeks, but I have no pent-up resentment for the Greeks. The way I figure it is this, I was born white, others were not. I don't owe a black person anything special. I owe the 'persons-of-color' the same as I owe my fellow white people, to treat them with respect and as an equal, unless they show me any reason why I should not. I've been in bands with White people, Black people, Hispanic people, Male people, Female people, and even one Asian person. I worked for Motown in Detroit for a while. I don't care about your skin color. What I care about is (1) Can you play well? And (2) Are you a nice person? Most of the musicians I've played with are nice people. If they weren't decent folks or if they couldn't play well enough, they either didn't get the job or were canned. I had a Mexican for a next-door neighbor for a few years, and there is a black gentleman living at the end of our dead-end street. No problem since they are nice folks. The person I had a problem with used to live across the street, fortunately he moved to North Carolina. He was white and a jerk. Juneteenth is just as much my holiday as anyone else's. It's a national holiday, a national celebration, so I will celebrate it as well. Sure it's a token, but so is Dead President's Day or Christmas. I hope it becomes a day that traditionally hires live bands, we all need the work. Insights and incites by Notes