Sparky at 100

Schulz with Donna Wold, the inspiration for “the little red-haired girl,” April 1950

There are plenty of online notices right now about Charles M. Schulz, who was born 100 years ago today. Terry Gross interviewed Schulz in 1990. Good Ol’ Monte gets a nod, as does cartoonist Jimmy Johnson’s then-wife Rheta, who wrote Good Grief!: The Story of Charles M. Schulz.

Schulz with Charlie Brown’s namesake, Charles Brown, a co-worker at Art Instruction, Inc.

Crypto Grifto

In the wake of the revelations about the FTX debacle, Leo LaPorte goes on a justified tear against crypto currency.

Economist Paul Krugman, who sees crypto as a financial hideout for criminals, had some choice words recently.

But if the government finally moves in to regulate crypto firms, which would, among other things, prevent them from promising impossible-to-deliver returns, it’s hard to see what advantage these firms would have over ordinary banks.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/opinion/crypto-banks-regulation-ftx.html

Speaking of Leo, this next video will start with a bit of Santa twin Scott Wilkinson, the Home Theater Geek, who I have followed for some years. After Scott, Leo has a caller. Keep listening until you realize who it is, or you reach the reveal.

Sam Alito, Partisan Hack

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is a smug, self-righteous SOB. He is completely lacking in empathy for anyone not conforming to his view of how people should live their lives. This is a good commentary on the New York Times article I read last Saturday.

The unfettered and lucrative sucking up, lobbying, and currying of favor—and the attendant rewards—are all recast as harmless socializing.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/alito-leak-hobby-lobby-real-problem.html

These religious hardliners aren’t Christians. Their viewpoints are based entirely on cherry-picked selections taken from the Old Testament.