TommyJay:

Agreed. I suspect Tull’s “Bourée” was based on a Bach piece Anderson taught himself early.

I’ve also wondered if his overblown flute was a cheat.

No disrespect. Ian Anderson was a guy topped off with talent.

Would The Russian Federation’s attempt to own all of Ukraine be a more pressing issue? Not that oligarchs are a problem in Russia? Of course it is because of The West. Are there corrupt oligarchs anywhere else but The West and of course in Ukraine?

Inconceivable.

Income inequality! Populism and the masses!

Is there anything else to distract folks with?

To appease the protesting farmers, Tusk said last week that he would consider national legislation to ban Russian and Belarusian imports because they, like Ukrainian goods, destabilize the Polish and EU markets.

On Monday, he backtracked, arguing that he’d pursue an EU-wide ban instead.

The Polish PM’s twisting and turning has experts and the international community wondering if he really knows how to quell the farmers’ unrest — or is just adding fuel to the fire.

For one thing, there is no evidence to support Tusk’s claims that Russian — or even Ukrainian — imports are to blame for the Polish farmers’ woes. As recently as January another EU country, Latvia, pushed for a bloc-wide ban on farm imports from Russia and failed, after other capitals argued that it would be too costly. (Russian food, unlike energy and some other exports, is not subject to Western sanctions. EU countries like Spain and Italy are still big buyers).

Putin the only winner as Poland’s Tusk flounders over Ukraine border fight
https://www.politico.eu/article/vladimir-putin-only-winner-poland-donald-tusk-flounders-ukraine-border-fight/

According to the article, 64% of Ukrainians opposed the 2020 law allowing foreign ownership of land even through partnerships.

And if you think Black Rock, or any other investment group has Ukraine’s interests at heart, you would be delusional.

A Czech lawmaker allied to former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is mounting a rearguard action against granting Ukraine another year of emergency access to the EU market, according to emails seen by POLITICO.

In an 11th-hour push, Martin Hlavá?ek on Thursday asked all members of the European Parliament to join him in submitting amendments to further tighten restrictions on Ukrainian farm goods as part of the renewal of trade liberalization measures.

Czech MEP mounts last-minute bid to stop Ukraine free-trade extension
https://www.politico.eu/article/martin-hlavacek-czech-mep-andrej-babis-free-trade-ukraine-eu-market-trade-liberalization/

Here’s an example, though small compared to the total land owned by a few of the wealthiest of these people.

Mykola Solskyi, the Ukrainian agriculture minister, is suspected of being involved in the illegal acquisition of millions of euros worth of state land before he joined the government.

According to NABU, Solskyi led a group that was involved in the misappropriation of farmland in the northeastern Sumy region between 2017 and 2021 before he became part of the government cabinet.
The country’s anti-corruption agency, NABU, leveled the allegations on Tuesday without directly naming Solskyi.

The agency said “a current minister” was being treated as a suspect in an investigation into the illegal acquisition of state-owned land worth 291 million hryvnias (€6.9 million) and attempting to seize land worth another 190 million hryvnias (€4.5 million).

Under the guise of a government agricultural land use program, that group allegedly destroyed documents affirming the rights of state-owned enterprises to the land, then transferred those rights to individuals associated with the group.

Ukrainian agriculture minister under suspicion of orchestrating land-grab scheme
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukrainian-agriculture-minister-under-suspicion-of-orchestrating-land-grab-scheme/

Having been through both several times recently, I think Stand sounds a little more dated and perhaps derivative of preceding bands like Cream, and Benefit has grown on me.

I skimmed the Wiki on early Tull. Fascinating. (Mr. Jethro Tull was a real 18th-century agriculturist. Ha.) I was wondering if Anderson had a longer history/upbringing with the flute, but no. I did notice that much of his early output did not have much technical difficulty in his flute playing.

Enjoyable music isn’t about complexity or difficulty necessarily. But for me anyway, musicians do need to execute well. Jazz is not my favorite genre, but I’m listening to it often at local live venues because those guys care a great deal of their musicianship.