Even though this was my most fervent blow-out-the-candles wish, I’m sad, very sad indeed, to report that this is, unquestionably, an impossibility. There is no evidence whatsoever, that human beings have the capacity to even imagine such a thing. Since the dawn of our species-dominant, upright beginnings, our tendency has…
stu·pid /ˈst(y)o͞opəd/ adjective having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense Very likely, I’m stupid. I’ve read the articles and listened to wiser, certainly more erudite disdainers of derogatory name calling describe, often in great detail, the Quixotic frivolity of calling out those who can’t or just…
I’ll be 75 in two days and I thought I had learned a thing or two along the way. Turns out, knowing a lot of the questions to Jeopardy answers does not make it so. The big smarty pants topics remain a total mystery to me. The meaning of life…what…
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…