David Walter, 1936-2026

The first bit of news I got on social media this morning was that David Walter, one of my high school music teachers died last week at the age of 89. He was without doubt the most influential teacher in my life. I last saw him at my other high school music teacher's retirement party a few years ago. Between him and Judy Moe, I learned more music performance technique and theory in high school than most music majors learn before their first year of graduate school. I am glad I got to see him recently. He will be missed.

And I now have 25 unread browser tabs open, so let me clear some of them out:

• Before the OAFPOTUS was the not-a-crook from California. Oh, the similarities!
• Josh Marshall doesn't see a "race to the bottom" on redistricting; rather, he sees the Democratic Party finally bringing a gun to the gunfight. Adam Kinzinger concurs, as does Brian Beutler: "Democrats have no choice but to embrace procedural radicalism with both arms—even if playing hardball isn’t in their nature."
• Paul Krugman tries to figure out if Europe is really in economic decline. He also shakes his fist at the grifters gaming the oil futures markets at our expense.
• Patrick Smith looks at the Spirit Airlines shutdown as does Cranky Flier.
• The Illinois legislature is advancing a new law that would regulate electric motorcycles and harmonize the patchwork of e-bike laws throughout the state.
• Halina Bennet assures us that smart girls read smut.

Finally, last week the Winnipeg Free Press published a charming history of daylight saving time in Manitoba. The province, along with Alberta, is contemplating joining Saskatchewan in a giant "prairie time zone" set at UTC-6 year-round. When the sun rises at 10am in Calgary in January, I think they might change their minds.