Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
APRIL 13, 2021 – The “Minnesota Nice” of my (white) privileged youth, is now, “Minnesota News,” and not in a nice way. Yesterday, I spoke with a lawyer whose office is a block from The Trial. He mentioned that plywood was being installed over all ground floor windows. “The memo came out last week,” he …
APRIL 8, 2021 – According to a report by The New York Times, soon after the death of Floyd George, Jr., Officer Knee-on-the-Neck offered to plead guilty to a third-degree murder charge and accept a 10-year prison sentence—if (a) the time could be served in a federal prison; and (b) federal civil rights charges would …
APRIL 7, 2021 – Yesterday morning I resolved to do something about my pandemic hair. With the advent of spring I wanted to drive with the (tinted) windows down without fear of being ticketed for “distracting other motorists.” It’d been 15 months since I’d had a haircut. In my 7/11/2019 post, I introduced readers to …
APRIL 1, 2021 – As The Trial continued yesterday, the jury—the one in the courtroom and the one of public opinion—saw a cogent, composed eye-witness fall apart emotionally as he relived the traumatic scene; as he watched the replay of George Floyd, Jr. in distress. The witness happened to be an older Black man—his thick, …
MARCH 31, 2021 – On cross-ex during day two of The Trial, the defense focused on the “unruly mob.” If I were Eric Nelson instead of Eric Nilsson, I wouldn’t have gone there. To establish “reasonable doubt”— Chauvin’s sine qua non—your assertions have to be reasonable. What’s not a reasonable assertion is that a few …
MARCH 30, 2021 – Yesterday I watched in the entirety, both opening statements in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer charged with three counts of felonious homicide in the death of George Floyd, Jr. I saw the now infamous video that was shown by the prosecution. That evidence alone produces reasonable doubt …
MARCH 19, 2021 – The up-coming trial of the Minneapolis cop charged with killing George Floyd, Jr. will be another boxing match, racial injustice class. In Corner #1: One set of facts—the video that all the world has seen; white cop pressing his knee against the neck of helpless black man until black man dies; …
MARCH 14, 2021 – Yesterday I lay low, wrapped in a blanket, watching Disney movies with my wife (to educate ourselves about our grand-daughter’s world), and just waiting it out. I was side-lined by the side-effects from my second vaccination the day before. Mind you, at no time did I regret the vaccination. (Get yours …
MARCH 13, 2021 – Yesterday marked an anniversary—the last time I rode a bus; my last day at my downtown office; the day I sat for 20 minutes across a table from a voluble guy, who experienced severe symptoms the following day, winding up on a hospital ventilator and nearly succumbing to The Plague. I …
MARCH 8, 2021 – Until my wife and I watched The Crown on Netflix, British royalty was barely a blip on my radar (See 2/24/21 post). By the end of the series, however, the blip was a battleship. Then came last night’s airing of Oprah’s interview of Harry and Meghan. My wife and I watched …
MARCH 6, 2021 – PING! I checked my phone—a message on WhatsApp. Since I’m connected with only three people on that Facebook-owned app, by easy deduction I knew the text was from our son Byron. “If you are looking for an interesting documentary [. . .],” it read. “Yes?” I replied “The Social Dilemma[.]” “Netflix?” …
MARCH 3, 2021 -The big news on an otherwise slow news day: six Seuss classics banned for life. My reaction? Hmm. I’m an acknowledged American “leftist” (the equivalent of center-right in much of good ol’ Europe), and anyone reading my posts knows how I feel about the need for racial justice in the Disunited States …
FEBRUARY 27, 2021 – Yesterday evening our five-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter was working hard at a life-size drawing of “make believe” on a large sheet of paper. When I approached, she waved me off. “You’re not allowed to look yet, Grandpa!” she said, “It’s not done yet.” Obediently, I repaired to a nearby chair to continue my …
JANUARY 18, 2021 – I’m a third of the way into The Contest – The 1968 Election and the War for American’s Soul by Michael Schumacher. As members of my family can attest, the book is so riveting, I had to “sneak read” during someone else’s protracted turn in a late-night card game. The book’s …
DECEMBER 14, 2020 – Christmas trees are now the shortage item that T.P. was in March. The local Lions Club, which has a large stock (trees, not T.P.) right through Big Star Day, had already closed two weeks ago. The nearby University of Minnesota Forestry Club had never opened in the first place. The Men’s …
NOVEMBER 28, 2020 – Yesterday, as I approached the entrance to “Little Switzerland” (a nearby hilly park) and my daily hike, I saw a couple walking toward me up the sidewalk. To maintain social distancing, I hurried to reach the break-away point before the other two walkers. As I peeled into the closest “canton,” the …
NOVEMBER 17, 2020 – On my walk yesterday evening I encountered a neighbor. In the cold air we stopped—about 20 feet from each other—to chat. The conversation started out with a light-hearted exchange of pleasantries but soon turned dark, as nightfall consumed the dusk and our conversation switched to . . . politics. We grappled …
OCTOBER 29, 2020 – In the aftermath of Trump’s upset victory in 2016, people struggled to explain Trump’s draw. Misogyny and racism were among the explanations, which were indictments of the “deplorables” who voted for the Orange Man. But the more empathetic among reasonable people reached for a deeper explanation: folks who’d been “left behind” …
OCTOBER 22, 2020 – Last night I finished reading Barbara Tuchman’s Stilwell and the American Experience in China – 1911 to 1945 (See my 9/3/20 post). Her thesis: America’s wartime policy toward China was a failure, and the outcome would’ve been more beneficial to our long-term interests had we not continued to back “G-mo”—Generalissimo Chiang …
AUGUST 30, 2020 – Last Thursday I drove home from the Red Cabin to host on our back porch, my five-member, monthly book club gathering. Soon after pulling into the driveway, however, I had to cancel—curfews had been ordered to prevent another night of looting. I stayed for two days to catch up on things. …
AUGUST 25, 2020 – By now we’ve all heard about The Contagion on college campuses. I’d hate to be among administrators right now. No matter what they do, they’ll be yelled at, maybe worse, when this is over. Atop news about Covid outbreaks and quarantines on campuses, we’re told about frat parties, beer bashes, and …
AUGUST 9, 2020 – Early on I was destined for Ayn Rand Land. One of my grandpas was “Ragnar,” the name of the hero-privateer in Rand’s best-seller, Atlas Shrugged. My other grandpa was a businessman. My dad was an arch-conservative, meaning my mom had to go along. Then the kicker: my oldest sister, an intellectual …
AUGUST 6, 2020 – After a two-week break from breaking news, I read many anxiety-enhancing articles in today’s paper version of . . . the paper. Our delivery person never lands The Times close to our doorstep. Instead, the person randomly flings the paper at our front yard, where “All the News That’s Fit to …
JULY 22, 2020 – Yesterday I watched a webinar on advising start-ups about cyber security. Like any cyber security consultant, the presenter scared the crap out of her audience. I’d sat through such sessions before and was generally aware of the perils associated with security breaches. But one needs a periodic reminder that one’s devices …
JULY 17, 2020 – Recently, on my evening walk I heard an outdoor concert by a dozen student . . .VIOLISTS! Led by their indomitable instructor, Elizabeth Cregan, these high school kids put out some great sound for an attentive, appreciative neighborhood audience. I’d met Ms. Cregan and her husband during the week following the …