A singer-songwriter is refusing to perform at the Trump-Kennedy Center after the venue’s name changed. Kristy Lee announced Monday that she canceled her scheduled performance at the Washington, D.C., arts institution scheduled for Jan. 14, 2026. The move came days after President Donald Trump’s name was added to the former John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. “I don’t have much power, and I don’t run with the big dogs who do. I’m just a folk singer from Alabama, slinging songs for a living,” Lee wrote on social media. “Hell, my songs are really just my own diary set to music. They’re not polished or hit songs, but they’re my truth and nobody can take that from me. I’m proud of that.” “I believe in the power of truth, and I believe in the power of people. And I’m gonna stand on that side forever. I won’t lie to you, canceling shows hurts. This is how I keep the lights on. But losing my integrity would cost me more than any paycheck,” she continued. “When American history starts getting treated like something you can ban, erase, rename, or rebrand for somebody else’s ego, I can’t stand on that stage and sleep right at night. America didn’t get built by branding. It got built by people showing up and doing the work. And the folks who carry it don’t need their name on it, they just show up. That’s all I’m doing here. I’m showing up.” Her post went viral, generating hundreds of thousands of likes, shares and comments. She thanked fans for their support and said she plans to instead perform virtually at home on Jan. 14. https://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/2025/12/singer-cancels-kennedy-center-concert-after-trump-name-change.html Kristy Lee's statement. https://www.facebook.com/kristyleefans/posts/pfbid0w7d3eFTsc2vLJpMs2247qxGP7aGtLBBsAWJBHYfd7HTDCxoxSyuBkuCAR5za6tN5l?rdid=Z1VFv8Fv68WWgkLY# Samples of her music, and a donation link. https://www.kristyleemusic.com/

A lovely feel-good story for this Christmas.

I made a sweater just like mine for Mr wtg; we are sweater twins. A friend stopped by today when Mr wtg and I were wearing our sweaters and said we should have done a Christmas card with a photo of the two of us wearing them. We said we don't have any friends to send cards to, and she came up with the brilliant idea of simply sending Christmas cards with our sweater photo to random people. We got a good chuckle out of the thought that the recipients would be trying to figure out where they know these two oldsters from....

@AndyD lovely!!

@Piano-Dad said in One reason they were holding up the release: Alternatively, they're just truly incompetent. I cast my vote for that option. Details on the "how to": Epstein Files Hacked And Posted To X “Trump’s DOJ is so incompetent that they don’t even know how to properly redact PDFs,” Brian Krassenstein, political commentator and journalist, tweeted the day the agency released the files. You might be inclined to write this off immediately, given that Krassenstein is known for his anti-Trump stance. In this case, however, that would be a mistake. As well as providing the evidence in a series of tweets that showed the highly redacted documents as well as the unredacted versions, Krassenstein went on to explain precisely how the Epstein files could be hacked. While it is common to read about hackers using PDFs in attacks, the portable document format is susceptible to attack itself. The shocking truth is that it was ridiculously easy, employing straightforward methods that have been known for years. That the DOJ was seemingly unaware of the PDF bugs that have been exploited to do this is concerning from a national security viewpoint at the very least. I am surprised, given that the DOJ has shown technical competence in operations with the FBI in the past, such as remotely deleting files from thousands of U.S.-based computers. I have reached out to the DOJ for a statement, but in the meantime, here’s how the hack went down. https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/12/24/epstein-files-hacked---all-you-need-to-know/

About the bear in Altadena...a trap was set and a bear caught. Problem is, it wasn't the bear living under the house.... https://people.com/trap-to-catch-bear-living-under-california-home-captures-wrong-animal-11873747

The odds of being charged when you are without fault are much higher when you use the self checkout. I avoid it if I am purchasing more than three items.

“Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.” Not sure that is something I would want to hear from a friend.

+1

As I put it next door, we’ve seen this movie plenty of times. 1 - select your desired opinion 2 - look in the Bible for supportive phrases 3 - declare your desired opinion biblically correct 4 - tell everyone there can be no other Christian opinion on the matter, since you believe in the infallibility of [your interpretation of] the Bible. The part in brackets is unspoken but implied.

It has rained here literally every day in December since we've been dogsitting. Imagine four dogs running round the lawn and then coming inside. Six times a day. We bought three extra washable mats but it's a losing battle. Thankfully two dry weeks are now forecast so I just hosed clean the back yard concrete and fingers crossed the muddy patch that used to be grass will drain or freeze. Oh for warm summer evenings.

This is disturbing. Very.

Donald Trump has sparked a fresh row with Denmark after appointing a special envoy to Greenland, the vast Arctic island he has said he would like to annex. Trump announced on Sunday that Jeff Landry, the Republican governor of Louisiana, would become the US's special envoy to Greenland, a semi-autonomous part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Gov Landry said in a post on X it was an honour to serve in a "volunteer position to make Greenland a part of the US". The move has angered Copenhagen, which said it would will call the US ambassador for "an explanation". Greenland's prime minister said the island must "decide our own future" and its "territorial integrity must be respected". https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckgmd132ge4o

Re: "Create a stethoscope" ... I came across a science fair project where a student built a system that (1) inserts a microphone into a cut-off stethoscope, (2) uses a smartphone to record the sound from said microphone, (3) is accompanied by his software with an AI model that can do some initial analyses of the recorded sound, and (4) packages up everything and sends to a human doctor. We awarded that project first prize for its category. Re: "Help yourself get to sleep" ... it need not necessarily be playing sounds of "white noise [or] ocean waves [or] crackling fire," it can be set to really boring podcasts, old TV reruns, lectures, sermons, audio books, etc. Re: "Control your phone with your voice" ... it occurs to me that maybe I use the word "cheese" to trigger the camera "click" function, that way I will be naturally saying "cheese" when taking a selfie. (OK, maybe double it up and use "cheese cheese" as the voice trigger to avoid accidental triggering of the "click" function.)

Thank you!!

@Steve-Miller said in Virtuoso tuba: Quite different. The Tuba has a much faster rotary valve action vs. the Sousaphone’s vertical valves. The tuba also has a fourth valve, the function of which zine never determined. Very impressive performance. I doubt it could have been performed on a Sousaphone. Very interesting! I didn't know about the differences