Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
APRIL 12, 2023 – Today the Shelby County (think Memphis, TN) Commission unanimously reappointed Justin Pearson to the state house of representatives. Few people outside Shelby County had heard of Mr. Pearson before the 28-year-old Black man, along with another young Black man and fellow representative, Justin Jones, had been expelled from the legislative body. …
MARCH 27, 2023 – In the aftermath of 9/11, my spouse remarked that if terrorists really wanted to hit us hard, they’d hit us where we live—everyday places in random communities across the country: our neighborhoods, shopping malls, churches, offices, amusement parks and . . . that’s right, schools. Here we are, more than a …
NOVEMBER 23, 2022 – Okay, okay, okay! What will it take our country—what will it take US—to address gun violence effectively? When will the bloodshed, the tragedy, the irrationality of gun violence in America drive us to say “Enough!” and demand of ourselves and our leaders (social, business, political, cultural) an end this public health …
DECEMBER 11, 2021 – As part of yesterday’s distraction from The Cough [cough, sputter, cough], I watched the 1994 film, Wyatt Earp, starring Mr. West Man, Kevin Costner. I didn’t catch all of the three-hour movie, despite the production having won an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Nevertheless, I drew perspective from a chapter of America’s …
DECEMBER 4, 2021 – I’m aware that my smartphone hears me talk—even when I’m not talking to it. And I know that if it hears me, it relays the information to the internet. When I later browse, I’m smacked with ads relating to conversations I’ve had in front of my phone. If the phone picks …
DECEMBER 1, .2021 – I must confess. When I heard about the latest shootings—at a school, with an assault rifle—I moved quickly to other concerns. After all, this is “’Mrca,” land of the Second Amendment. But more to the point (“gun barrel”?), it’s the land of a ratio of firearms to people of close to …
NOVEMBER 17, 2021 – I’d wanted to write something cool (but heartwarming), when Bam!—I read about the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois kid who grabbed his assault rifle and ammo and drove to Kenosha, Wisconsin to kill a couple of BLM protesters . . . in self-defense. After closing arguments in a courtroom presided …
SEPTEMBER 25, 2021 – When asked what he thought about democracy, Mahatma Gandhi purportedly said, “It’s an interesting idea.” Democracy has ample flaws to render it “interesting,” starting with . . . everyone gets to participate—including people who aren’t subscribers to democracy’s fundamental principle: power is derived from the consent of the governed, not from …
JUNE 19, 2021 – Don’t tread on me . . . with your gun fetish. Hunt all you want (with your registered rifle and firearm safety classes) and skeet shoot until you drop (likewise, with a registered firearm and adequate instruction), but don’t think that because you’re obsessed with your “right to bear arms,” I’m …
MARCH 24, 2021 – As I read about the latest shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, I’m thinking it’s time for a change; time to modernize our national emblem. I speak of the proud bald eagle that forms the official seal of the United States of America. What’s with the arrows in the claws of that …
NOVEMBER 20, 2020 – (Cont.) Dad liked shattering clay pigeons, but neither that experience nor the shooting of the woodchuck turned him into a gun person; certainly not a hunter. Dad was counter-culture. I didn’t know a single boy (I didn’t ask the girls) in my class who didn’t hunt with his dad. During duck- …
NOVEMBER 19, 2020 – Dad wasn’t a hunter or a gun owner, but a day arrived when he needed to borrow a gun. A short while later arrived the day when he fired the gun. I wasn’t directly on hand when he pulled the trigger. I was nine years old and riding my oversized bike …
APRIL 28, 2019 – Western Civilization has endured for more than 2,500 years. The Wild West, has roared for less than 250. By “Wild West,” I don’t mean only the Great Plains, the Rockies, or the deserts of the Southwest, though they are fetching symbols of “wild” and “West.” I mean strains of American culture …
APRIL 18, 2019 – A friend, Judy H., told a true story about a nun with a gun. No matter what your position is on gun control, you’ll agree that within the story lies an amusing lesson or two. Judy, a liberal Catholic, had a friend who was a nun in an order that promoted …