Original anecdotes, commentary, rumination, and occasional pontification.
SEPTEMBER 24, 2019 – In case you haven’t already heard it, you must listen to the speech of Greta Thunberg (pronounced, TŪN-berry) at the UN Climate Change Summit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAJsdgTPJpU Her words and delivery smack you directly between the ears—where the brain resides. As she cuts to the quick, you remind yourself, “To travel from her …
SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 – I’ve now started the “War Years” portion of Carl Sandburg’s two-volume biography of Abraham Lincoln. If you want to know “polarization,” read this work. But here’s the thing: the fracturing didn’t happen overnight. The seeds had been sown when slaves were introduced to Jamestown in 1619; when 13 independent colonies debated …
SEPTEMBER 1, 2019 – After a two-week hiatus from the news, I dared to take a peek. My glance prompted two thoughts: 1. People’s world views are determined primarily by people’s perceptions of how their bread is buttered; and accordingly, 2. A considerable degree of government regulation is a necessity. “Bread” is financial well-being. “Butter” …
AUGUST 10, 2019 – Today I criticize Republicans’ defense of corporate America. My target: money, money, and . . . money. There’s nothing inherently wrong with money. It’s simply a medium of exchange. However, the American corporate obsession with short term money (profitability) and money in politics undermines our future. First, take executive compensation. For some time, …
AUGUST 9, 2019 – To be honest, I’m not following the Democratic presidential campaign very closely. I don’t have to. I just need to vote for the Democratic nominee. The 2020 election will not be one in which a responsible citizen, in my judgment, should express displeasure with both major parties. A vote for any candidate …
AUGUST 5, 2019 – Gun control; immigration reform; student loan burdens; opioid crisis; arms sales to Saudia Arabia; support of Israel; relations with NATO allies; relations with Russia; relations with China; disease control; tariffs; war in Afghanistan; religious extremism; white nationalism; investment in public transit; transportation safety; affordable and accessible quality health care; storage of nuclear …
JULY 31, 2019 – I listened to several patches of yesterday evening’s Democratic Presidential “Debate.” I think each of the innumerable candidates falls into one of three rings: FIRST RING: “I can beat Trump because I’m for free stuff”; SECOND RING: “I can beat Trump because I can”; THIRD RING: “I can beat Trump because I’m …
JULY 20, 2019 – In a vibrant democratic society, just as in every parent-child relationship, a tension exists between independent thought and the need to conform. On the surface—and in the mind of many-a-teenager—these two concepts seem inherently incompatible, but they are not. In a well-adjusted society/relationship, they are complementary. I’ve written an entire screenplay …
JULY 18, 2019 – My favorite lines in the classic, Lost Horizon by James Hilton, are spoken by Chang, an initiate of the lamasery in Shangri-La, to-wit: If I could put it into a very few words, dear sir, I should say that our prevalent belief is in moderation. We inculcate the virtue of avoiding …
JULY 10, 2019 – In the news again is talk of reparations to descendants of American slavery. I say, “No.” If the answer were to be “Yes,” we’d lose our way in weeds and never emerge. Hear me out. At the outset we’d face a definitional question: who qualifies? According to DNA testing as part …
JUNE 14, 2019 – And I’m not talking only about Nero. I’m talking about Congress. I’m talking about all the Democratic candidates for president—because to date there are no Republicans with requisite spine to challenge the incumbent. I’m talking about the media—mainstream, social, cable, network, business. I’m talking about . . . all of us. …
JUNE 12, 2019 – The flag-waver talked on. “Muslims shouldn’t be allowed into this country either,” he told me. “How many Muslims do you know personally?” I asked. “I know what they stand for.” “No, my question was how many do you know personally.” “I know what they want to do to this country.” “But …
JUNE 11, 2019 – Yesterday on my way to work I had two contrasting, back-to-back encounters. I’ll report them objectively, using as few adjectives and adverbs as possible, except to enhance visualization. I want the reader to be self-directed as far as conclusions are concerned. PART I – CAP AND FLAG When I crossed Third …
MAY 30, 2019 – [NOTE TO READERS: The poetry of Wallace Stevens will have to wait (see yesterday’s post).] – After Robert Mueller’s appearance yesterday, I read Volume II of his Report. Volume II addresses the question of the president’s obstruction of justice. The Report is an exemplary piece of rigorous legal writing, but you …
MAY 16, 2019 – We who despise the president struggle to answer this: “Who in the world are the people who continue to support him?” Joining now thousands of other armchair pundits, diviners, and opinion purveyors, I proclaim the answer! (Drum roll . . .) The president’s supporters fall into one of four groups: ANTI-TAX, …
MAY 10, 2019 – I once had a flight simulator computer program that allowed me to “fly” all sorts of aircraft, big and small, fast and slow, old and new. Taking off was the easy part. I adjusted the flaps, powered up and away I flew. The toughest part was always landing the damn plane. …
MAY 9, 2019 – I think the producers of The West Wing should do an encore called, IMPEACHIM’. The show would mimic what’s unfolding today—mostly on CNN—but provide depth and context. The first season would feature the president behaving within a full range of what people of taste would find distasteful. Some of the infractions …
MAY 4, 2019 – When the 448-page Mueller Report was made public, I actually attempted to read it. Instead of relying on Barr’s interpretation, let alone his client’s—wait a second, the president is not his “client”!—or anyone else’s take, I figure I’d read and interpret carefully the contents myself. I’d be the good citizen and …
APRIL 27, 2019 – Last night I pulled from the shelf a small volume of short stories by Nikolai Gogol, translated into English. Inside the front cover I’d written, “Purchased in Moscow – October 3, 1981.” That was the day before the start of my seven-day rail journey across Russia—and seven days back—with layovers in …
APRIL 26, 2019 – Worry is a survival instinct, especially among descendants of Swedish immigrants to Minnesota in the first 12 years of the 20th century. This explains why I worry a lot. About what? Examples include: distracted drivers; misuse of big data; computer hackers; the surge in deadly, drug-resistant bacteria; climate change on the …
APRIL 24, 2019 – My wife recently read me a FB political meme that went something like this: I get home from vacation and find my basement full of rabid raccoons. I call the city, I call several exterminators, but no one can or even wants to try to clean my basement of these awful …
APRIL 23, 2019 – Yesterday, Seth Moulton announced that he too is running for president. I’d never heard of him either (he’s a second term Congressperson from Massachusetts). What gives? Do Democrats think they increase the odds of defeating Trump if they increase the number of people seeking to oppose him? What qualifies each of …