Oh ye of little faith, it's 5-D chess.

It was only a matter of time!

The Trump administration signaled Monday it is backing off on the creation of a $1.8 billion fund announced by the Justice Department that could send money to allies of President Donald Trump deemed to be “victims of lawfare and weaponization.” It comes after a fierce and rare backlash from Senate Republicans, who threatened to team up with Democrats to block the fund. About half the Republican conference appeared ready to vote with Democrats to restrict or kill it, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said last week. In a statement, the Justice Department cited a Friday ruling by a federal judge that blocked the fund on a temporary basis, saying it “disagrees strongly” but “will abide by the Court’s ruling.” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-administration-appears-back-18-billion-anti-weaponization-fund-r-rcna347884

@rontuner Yes I agree, combined with pedalling skills. I mean, it varies from a slowly pressed and held key of a Chopin nocturne, all the way to the heavy impact of a Fats Waller's fast left hand stride. Combined with pedalling effects.

Wow, great work!

[image: 1780340777826-screenshot_20260531-213943_facebook.jpg] [image: 1780340786064-screenshot_20260531-214258_facebook.jpg]

I thought this was maybe him energetically off to see buldozers start on his 1.5 billion golf course, hotel & residential complex in North Vietnam. Land there is owned by the people, but managed by the state. Authorities keen to appease Trump, are forcibly moving the living and exhuming the dead from a 990-hectare area. Money talks, but there are some very unhappy locals.

So recording the voices of other people as well? I thought wiretapping was illegal.

Thanks for explaining that, jon.

Friday Saturday and Sunday in London all hit 30 degrees. Some relief today as 23 forecast. Let me bore you all with my first world misfortune. Wife flying 11am Saturday on SIA. "Let's get the super-fast Queen Elizabeth line"... 6.20am we walked past our car to tube. Got to Paddington no problem then told both tubes to Heatrow were down. Shambles, absolute nightmare, tube stopped at Hayes station one stop away from Heathrow. Up the stairs, one young lad the only visible member of staff. We stood in the sun with hundreds of other people waiting (with suitcases, increasingly hot &panicked) for a replacement bus service. After an hour waiting & literally unable to get on a bus, we ordered an Uber, shared with a young American on his way to Chicago to visit girlfriend. Our driver was just great, sailed past stationary three lane traffic and into terminal 2 drop-off by a clever back way, taking only 10 minutes. God knows what foreigners think of our inability to cope with incidents (flooding at Heathrow, obviously can't get an emergency plumber out early on Saturday). Anyway Mrs A got through baggage in 2 minutes and away she went. Guess what? I joined a couple of hundred weary frustrated arrivals with suitcases queuing (another hour of joy) for the replacement bus service back to Hayes tube. In full sun. I use the word queuing loosely as the bus drivers are incapable of stopping at the sign, just anywhere within 20ft either side of the sign will do. Pot luck if you were by the doors when it stopped. Given the traffic I witnessed, driving may not have got us there in time. Six hours after leaving the house I was in a cafe in Covent Garden trying to chill (in every sense of the word) with daughter, not really hiding her amusement very well. She has the daily joy of London Transport's unpredictability.

Wowza Beautiful pink I'm currently in London so may see a few things. Meanwhile the weekend FT suggested some gardening books [image: 1780290633045-20260531_141601.jpg]

It wasn't that long ago that people would show disdain towards anyone who used Google, or god forbid, Wikipedia, to get answers to bolster their point of views. Now here we are (not me, but you already know that) fully embracing a system based on stolen goods that believes it's own lies. How times have changed.

Chronos beats his time drum and I'll let you in on an arcane fact few people know. Time can't be measured. There's no begining where it could "start" and so there's likewise no "stop" point, either. It's always changing based on the solar system, also, so even if you hypothetically found a stating point, it would be wrong in an instant. Kairos was apparently the Greeks' answer to this problem. He makes time definite by choosing his timing. It's not an easy thing to do and I imagine it's become even more difficult as kind of "analysis paralysis" can develop as society becomes an instrument of distraction in itself. I love classics. I never put much time in it but I do intend to learn Latin (not spoken) and to study classical literature and mythology. My digital Casio got "touched" when I was moving it and started to chime on the hour. I don't argue with it.

@Big_Al said: I sometimes think of people I knew and have met on the various forums over the years. Then, I wonder where many of them are now. I was just thinking the same thing a couple of days ago and thought about starting a thread about it. I thought maybe some folks keep in touch with people who no longer post here. I'd love to hear how they're doing.

@wtg said: Anyway, I wonder if people who are immersed in music, have a brain wired for it, and who devote a lot of time and energy to it, see this as the equivalent of cheap wine in the world of piano lessons, and somehow not up to their standards. We need to remember that for some people, cheap wine is totally OK and even enjoyable! Maybe Payam will get folks into playing, enjoying, and spreading piano music and spreading piano music widely. I think that's a good thing. I think some (perhaps a lot) of established teachers are up in arms over Payam because it is promoting itself by propagating blatant falsehoods about traditional and other methods. To suddenly appear and tell everyone they've been doing it wrong with nothing more than flimsy marketing isn't going to settle with people who, as you said, have invested themselves heavily (money and time) in the study of music and teaching it. A good thing because it may get more people interested in piano? There is a limit. They are cheating their teachers by taking 75% of the lesson income. One has to question the quality of the teachers they will obtain. The way I see Payam right now, it's like those "Learn piano in 2 weeks" frauds that comes along every now and then. But if it works for someone, if only to get them interested, that could be seen as a benefit. And as it was pointed out in the video I posted, Payam's method is not all that dissimilar to a lot of standard methods, despite their claims. But I am worried that they will be taking advantage of ignorance. And it does sound like their main interest is financial, not musical.

Not that hard to find out. Just ask the children of professional chefs. The answers are ultimately of little consequence to the general public.

@jon-nyc said: She has the same haircut 67 years later and it looks great in both pictures. That is a life skill I would like to emulate!

Deeper dive into the points raised by the retired judges: https://www.npr.org/2026/05/30/nx-s1-5839989/judge-review-trump-anti-weaponization-fund And here's their amicus brief: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28176766-motion-from-35-former-federal-judges/