The Petersburg Battle of the Crater site

In 1963, our family toured some of the Civil War battlefields. The Battle of the Crater (1864) looked very dramatic in paintings from the time. The Union forces used dynamite which created a crater.

Unfortunately. by 1963 the crater had filled in and was very unimpressive. It was so disappointing.

Some thoughts on Trump’s indictment

Republicans are being very antisemitic when they say George Soros is behind the prosecutor. Soros is their code word for their bigotry

It’s going to be hard to find a jury to convict Trump if he is guilty. How can anyone say they haven’t heard about the case when we’ve been bombarded with it? Most New Yorkers don’t like Trump but I am sure there could be one or more Trump supporter in a group of 12 jurors. They will have already decided he is innocent since they don’t care about the facts.

Some people have said it is a weak case. It was strong enough to get Michael Cohen convicted and sent to jail. Trump, not Cohen, slept with Stormy Daniels. Trump, not Cohen, supplied (however indirectly) the money.

Some people say that the DOJ 1/6 or Georgia find the votes cases should have come first. The other prosecutors have had two years to charge Trump and they haven’t. I agree the other cases are about more significant issues but I see no reason why Bragg should wait.

I wish the media would stop referring to Stormy Daniels as a porn star. It’s irrelevant. If she was a teacher, would they call her “teacher” Stormy Daniels? I doubt it. It’s boring.

This won’t hurt him with his cult. If they didn’t care about two impeachments, Access Hollywood, the insurrection, the endless lies, and the terrible bigotry, they won’t care about this. The cult and GOP politicians are already falling in line.

Library of Congress: A conversation with Randy Newman (2013)

from the description:

Mark Horowitz talks with award-winning composer and performer Randy Newman about the creative process. Speaker Biography: The composer of a long list of notable film scores — “The Natural,” “Awakenings,” “Ragtime,” all three “Toy Story” pictures, “Seabiscuit,” “James and the Giant Peach,” “A Bug’s Life” and many others — Newman’s many accolades include two Oscars, three Emmys, and six Grammys. His unforgettable songs include “I Think It’s Going to Rain Today,” “Louisiana 1927,” “Short People,” “Sail Away,” and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” Speaker Biography: Mark Eden Horowitz is a specialist in the Library’s Music Division. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feat…