PANCHO AND LEFTY

I love playing this song with friends.  Previous video disappeared....so

Living on the road my friend was gonna keep you free and clean
Now you wear your skin like iron and your breath's as hard as kerosene
You weren't your mama's only boy but her favorite one it seems
She began to cry when you said goodbye and sank into your dreams

Poncho was a bandit boy, his horse was fast as polished steel
He wore his gun outside his pants for all the honest world to feel
Poncho met his match you know on the deserts down in Mexico
Nobody heard his dyin' words ah but that's the way it goes

All the Federales say they could've had him any day
They only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose

Lefty he can't sing the blues all night long the way he used to
The dust that Poncho bit down south ended up in Lefty's mouth
Day they laid poor Poncho low Lefty split for Ohio
Where he got the bread to go there ain't nobody knows

All the Federales say they could've had him any day
They only let him slip away out of kindness I suppose

The poets tell how Poncho fell and Lefty's living in a cheap hotel
The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold and so the story ends we're told
Poncho needs your prayers it's true but save a few for Lefty too
He only did what he had to do and now he's growing old

A few great Federales say could've had him any day
They only let him go so long out of kindness I suppose

A few great Federales say could've had him any day
They only let him go so long out of kindness I suppose

LIFE EXPECTANCIES

One of my many cousins recently commented on the longevity of the Plank/Aschliman clan, and it got me to think about how longevity data are presented.  We generally hear about the "average" age of lifespan/death for males and females in the US, which is the mean.  However, I was interested to find out the median, the age at which half of the folks are alive and half are dead, and the mode, the age at which most people die.  I found such data at this website, some of which are below:

So with regard to lifespans:

Mean life expectancy would be the average age at death,
Median life expectancy would be the age which 50% of people will die prior to reaching, and which 50% of people will live past, and
Mode life expectancy would be the most common age at death.

Here is the frequency of male deaths by age

Thus, from this chart we can see the infant mortality is significant, that the average/mean age at death is 76, the median age is just past 80, and the mode is 86.  As would be expected, if you reach a certain age, say 60, these number shift to the right a bit - if you make it to 60, the average/mean becomes 81.5, the median becomes 82.5 and the mode becomes 89.  And the numbers for females are several years higher.  Of course these shifts to older ages have a finite limit since everyone dies sooner or later!!!

CUMBRE VIEJA

Lots of folks like to envision "the big one" in California and all of the destruction that would ensue, but not too many think about the effect that Cumbre Vieja, or the "old summit" on La Palma in the Canary Islands, might have on the eastern US from the northeast to Florida.

The fear is that the Cumbre Vieja might fail, and if it does so in one complete collapse, the crumbling mountain falling into the ocean would cause a mega tsunami that would quickly spread across the Atlantic Ocean.

Here is a simulation of the tsunami:

So, not too worried about this here in the Rockies!!

THE APOSTATE'S GREED

 

There was a bit of a kerfuffle a while back at the funeral of President George H.W. Bush.  President Trump and Melania declined to read along with the recitation of the Apostles' Creed while all of the other former Presidents and First Ladies joined in.  I thought it a bit odd at the time, and awaited to see what the responses might be.  I expected the hard-core, evangelical right wingers would be quick to give a pass, and I was not let down.

Franklin Graham compared Trump’s failure to recite the creed (which declares belief in God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit) to his own unwillingness to sing in church.

Robert Jeffress opined "There are times in my own church services when I fail to sing the hymns or recite the Scripture because I’m distracted by my own thoughts. I imagine the leader of the free world has a few things on his mind, as well."

Good old boy Ted Nugent claimed "The president participated in a public ceremony in his capacity as head of state, not as a Presbyterian.  As such, he has no obligation to declare those theological truths, or any others, aloud in public."

And Jesse Lee Peterson, a far-right radio host and Christian pastor, has a defense for Trump’s seemingly un-Christian characteristics. According to Peterson, the Creed is a “phony act” that is not a “Christian thing to be reciting.”

But the video below takes the cake.  It's worth watching the whole thing, but is essence, Melania has recruited The Donald to join the Remnant Catholic Church who claim to be the only true Christians. And as such, they cannot participate in any church rituals other than of the Remnant Church.

PROFESSOR JAMES MILLER MURDER CASE

Some of you who have been hanging around this blog for a while will remember the murder of Goshen College Biology Professor James Miller and my post of November 7, 2011, that can be found here.  Now, after 7 years, an arrest has been made and a criminal case is being prepared against Winston Corbett, 23, who was 16 at the time of the murder.  A very interesting series of reports culminating with the story of the arrest can be found here.  The press conference of the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office regarding the arrest can be found here.

ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE

A great Kate Wolf tune

I've been walkin' in my sleep
Countin' troubles 'stead of countin' sheep
Where the years went I can't say
I just turned around and they've gone away 

 

I've been siftin' through the layers
Of dusty books and faded papers
They tell a story I used to know
And it was one that happened so long ago 

 

It's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide 

 

Now, I heard the owl a-callin'
Softly as the night was fallin'
With a question and I replied
But he's gone across the borderline 

 

He's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide 

 

The finest hour that I have seen
Is the one that comes between
The edge of night and the break of day
It's when the darkness rolls away 

 

And it's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
Where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide 

 
And it's gone away in yesterday
Now I find myself on the mountainside
It's where the rivers change direction
Across the Great Divide