Since it has been FOREVER since I posted on this blog, there are 2 important developments that are historic, today, in my mind – as a Black Minnesotan and physician. Former 2016 presidential candidate and current Wall Street billionaire, Mike Bloomberg makes an historic commitment to medicine, by donating more than 0.5B in endowments to 4 Black medical schools.

The gifts are among the largest private donations to any historically Black college or university, with $175 million each going to Howard University College of Medicine, Meharry Medical College and Morehouse School of Medicine. Charles Drew University of Medicine & Science will receive $75 million. Xavier University of Louisiana, which is opening a new medical school, will also receive a $5 million grant.

And the first woman of color to lead a presidential ticket has just chosen MN Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate.

Great news on both fronts.

First it was news of Jimmy Buffett, then former NM governor and United Nations ambassador, Bill Richardson, now, one of the most underrated rock musicians of all time, Gary Wright.

Wright died on Monday, after living with Parkinson’s disease and dementia for approximately five years, said his son. Wright’s Parkinson’s developed over the last year and according to Justin, Wright was unable to move around or speak. Fellow musicians memorialized Wright after his passing. “Gary’s vibrant personality and exceptional talent made every moment together truly enjoyable,” singer-songwriter Stephen Bishop wrote on Twitter. “His legacy will live on for many years to come.” A rep did not immediately respond to comment when contacted by The Daily Beast.

Total surprise to me, as I had no idea Wright suffered from a neurodegenerative disorder. RIP, Gary. BTW, my absolute fave Gary Wright track: “I Really Want To Know You”. Classic.

I thought I would NEVER see the day physicians would ever have a reason to unionize. Wow.

Leaders of the Minnesota practice group announced Friday that they were notifying the National Labor Relations Board of their intent to unionize. Dr. Matt Hoffman, a lead organizer and family practitioner, said physicians have been worn down by administrative burdens that have reduced their time with patients and control over the quality of care.

“Unionization is really the path that we have in order to have our voices heard regarding patient care,” said Hoffman, who practices at Allina’s Vadnais Heights primary care clinic.

As a primary care clinician myself, I completely understand the burdens of an unsupportive practice environment and seemingly uncaring administrators. One could sympathize with this group of physicians as they struggle to find a voice. This is just latest PR nightmare for the Allina system, as the organization has been shedding many staff and delaying the groundbreaking on a previously scheduled hospital just north of the Twin Cities.

Obviously, this is worth watching.

I think the imperative tense (l’impératif) is perhaps the easiest to master in French. As usual, there are the spoiler irregulars, the most irregular of which is aller. I mean:

Va Vas (-y)

In addition to the expected irregular conjugation involving the 1st person and 2nd person plurals:

Allons (-y) Allez (-y)

*Wait, I don’t even like beer.

Those who are over 80 years of age, and do not need the income, do so because they fear irrelevancy. I guess if one doesn’t consider money in this equation, it’s a piece that should be about what those in their post retirement go-go years should always consider: volunteerism.

My personal charts are making a comeback! Those of you who have followed this domain (yes, I have owned it since 2003) may recall that at various periods in its evolution, I briefly toyed with publishing my own music charts. Of course, it goes without saying that I not only love listening to music, I also love charting it … usually in the form of individual songs/tracks. For the most part I have usually kept such data in my noggin', but I have been known to translate that UFI into web based publishing. (I previously owned a mediawiki page designed for this purpose.)

Well, I’m happy to announce that I will be gradually incorporating such data back into this blog. I hope to complement uploaded videos to my YouTube channel with this tabular data to create more of a seamless vlog/blog presentation/interface. I’ve always wanted to get back into publishing my personal charts, now I have a reason to do just that. Look for it!