Although it’s not a clever acronym for the points of the compass, the word NEWS has maintained a lofty importance, far greater than its mere four letters, for the better part of four centuries. There’s a long, continuous arc from trusted confidents collecting tidbits of information to whisper in the…
As the unremorseful Derek Chauvin was cuffed and led out of the courtroom to his potentially life-long imprisonment, I was overwhelmed by a deep, abject sadness when I had expected that such an outcome would bring, at least, momentary jubilation. Chauvin is unquestionably a murderer, proven by contemporaneous video as…
I hope you’re enjoying your name-on-the-tip-of-everybody’s-tongue status. While trying to make sense of the political state of our currently fragile union, your elevated importance would seem, to me, anyway, in need of some arm’s-length clarity. I’m delighted to assist in that endeavor. You know that your behavior has dire consequences,…
bi•par•ti•san /bīˈpärdəzən/ adjective involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties that usually oppose each other’s policies In essence, it’s simply the way civilized people behave. Whether bi or tri or parliamentary, ideas get fleshed out amidst probative, well-intentioned, constructive debate and, after the shouting, name-calling and fist-pounding, more…
The trial of Derek Chauvin began this week. It’s mostly televised, I guess, so those of us who’ve only witnessed courtroom dramatizations on Law and Order will get to see how this bizarre ritual actually unfolds. I say, bizarre, because from the opening remarks, even one’s least cynical tendencies would…
United States Senators and Congressmen receive an annual salary of $174,000.00. The leaders get a bump to $193,000.00. It’s a job. There’s an on-going peer review, snarkily played out in TV sound bites and tweets, usually with little impact. There’s a performance review, aka election, every two years for Congressmen…
Oral Roberts? Are you kidding me? Actually, this is not about basketball. Well, maybe a little. It’s March…one of the solstices happened yesterday, so it’s spring…many of us are getting vaccinated and feeling pandemically hopeful…stimulus checks are hitting bank accounts…immigrant kids are flooding to our border…Florida, Texas and Alabama, oh…
…and an extra hour of daylight to enjoy it. So, something truly remarkable has happened in a most unremarkable fashion. After one of our country’s most disastrous years, at least since the Great Depression, every Democratic member of Congress, except for the pea-brained Jared Golden of Maine, did their jobs,…
I am not able to verify this with Google Translate, but I’m absolutely certain, (at least, as certain as any statement, aside, rejoinder, exaltation, burp or babble from last week’s through-the-looking glass gathering of morons in Orlando), that CPAC is the colloquial, common, Cyrillic spelling, in Russian, for booooooooooo-shit. So,…
I know I’m overly critical of, well…everything. I’ve tried, really, I have: meditation, non-bendy yoga, fluffy pets and a variety of trendy and not-so methods, both pharmaceutical and otherwise. I’m sure I’ve relaxed once or twice in the past and I’ve been urged by others to try to channel that…