Author: DOuG pRATt

The Decline and Falling

Before watching the video, read this jumble of words. Just as Biden did at that age, Trump is deteriorating, but at least it isn’t hidden from view.

“They looked at him falling downstairs every day. Every day, the guy is falling downstairs. He said, It’s not our President. We can’t have it. I’m very careful. You know, when I walk downstairs for, like, a month, stairs, like these stairs, I’m very—I walk very slowly. Nobody has to set a record. Just try not to fall, because it doesn’t work out well. A few of our presidents have fallen and it became a part of their legacy. We don’t want that. You walk nice and easy. You’re not having—you don’t have to set any record. Be cool. Be cool when you walk down, but don’t—don’t pop down the stairs. So one thing with Obama, I had zero respect for him as a President, but he would bop down those stairs. I’ve never seen it. Da-da, da-da, da-da, bop, bop, bop. He’d go down the stairs. Wouldn’t hold on. I said, It’s great. I don’t want to do it. I guess I could do it. But eventually, bad things are going to happen, and it only takes once. But he did a lousy job as president. A year ago, we were a dead country. We were dead. This country was going to hell.”

I was confident the world would survive Trump’s first term. I’m hoping we can do it again. For now, I am relying on “marker therapy.”

A President at War With America

Trump takes the next step towards declaring martial law to prevent the midterm elections.

“We should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/us/politics/trump-hegseth-military-officers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.p08.Qbmx.d4ya4TBLhY_H&smid=url-share

If that latest outrage makes it difficult to relax, watch this.

One of those may not be enough, if you’re trying to get to sleep.

Cartoonists Eat Dinner! Give Awards!

Now you can experience what I did at the National Cartoonists Society Awards Dinner. Minus the dinner. 😉

The video will start when Colleen took the stage to present two awards. As Colleen correctly implied, comic book people are typically more familiar with comic strips than comic strip people are familiar with comic books.

Acting on a WiiM

The long, agonized death slide of my cherished, now perished, Logitech Squeezebox Touch is over. After numerous successful efforts to keep it working online, after almost fifteen years it finally decided to fall off the network once and for all. For those who have working units, the Touch continues to be as good as anything available today, excepting for its selection of applications compared to newer products.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/logitech-squeezebox-touch-network-music-player

I was prepared for the Touch’s demise, having pre-selected a replacement that’s compatible with Lyrion. It’s the WiiM Pro (pronounced “whim”). Amazon caught me with a $22 off deal on the Plus version, and guaranteed next day delivery, on Sunday. So, less than 24 hours after laying the Touch to rest, streaming music had returned to the living room.

Here’s Amir with a technical review (of a unit he received for free):

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/wiim-pro-plus-streamer-review.50254/

The WiiM also replaces a couple other gadgets; a Google Chromecast Audio “puck” and a Topping DAC. They didn’t need replacing, but I like the simplicity of the new setup.

Unlike the very classy and solidly built Touch, the WiiM case is a cheap, plain, black plastic box. So, I’m keeping it out of sight in the cabinet. That reduces WiFi reception a bit, but the signal is still “very good,” so not enough to be a problem.

Here’s Darko with a more subjective review (of a unit I assume was provided gratis), including a comparison with the Touch:

https://darko.audio/2023/10/wiim-pro-plus-video-review/

The WiiM doesn’t actually do it all, as it lacks a SiriusXM app. I will continue using Chromecast from my phone for that service.