I saw them; there is nothing beautiful about them, just that they are a little higher than the others.
Speaking of Redwoods on 15 March 1967
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him get a vaccine or booster.
He who lives by denying science dies denying science.
There are no atheists in foxholes or deniers in hospitals.
He died doing what he loved: being an idiot.
FLM: Fox Lies Matter
https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2021/02/05/lou-dobbs-canceled-fox/
I wish to join the call for calm. To those who feel insurrection is treason, punishable by death, I council calm and mercy. We are bigger than those insurgents of January 6, 2021 who sought to topple our government, our constitution, our core belief in rule by law.
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today,
I wish, I wish he'd go away...
When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn't see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don't you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don't slam the door...
Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn't there,
He wasn't there again today
Oh, how I wish he'd go away...
-- William Hughes Mearns 1899
Where were you when the Nazis bombed Pearl?
Where were you when Ruby killed Jack?
Where were you when Bobby killed Martin?
Where were you when Glenn walked the moon?
Where were you when Columbia was challenged?
Where were you when Chad hanged Al?
Where were you when the CIA burned the twins?
Where were you when Donald pulled off his coup?
A dialogue on compassion between a friend and I. Edited to make me look better. And him worse.
GLB
1988 was the year I quit the Republican Party.
On a nice spring/summer day, we walked to the Rockville City Hall and I changed my registration from Republican to Independent. (And the rest, as they say, is history.)P.S. Attached is a photo of yours truly meeting William F. Buckley Jr. at Gonzaga University in 1962. Notice the priest is watching me suspiciously -- even though I was a good conservative then, maybe the priest smelled a whiff of heresy? (Priests seem to be good a finding heretics.)
CBV
You should have stayed, and fixed the GOP
I debated posting this at all because it's a downer, and there's nothing particularly new here. But it is on my mind so here goes.
We are all going to die. The total morality rate is 1. The question is how we live, how and when we die. Times like these force us to think about how we live, how our choices affect not only our own lives but also the lives of others.
I'm a numbers guy. It may seem callous and cold to speak of life and death as if it's a calculus problem. And indeed, that is a risk. But the alternative, to be willfully ignorant of the numbers, seems to me criminal. If we are to make informed decisions, numbers matter.
So, here are some key numbers emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.
I dreamt I was in a reception line at a formal event. At the head of the line was the President of the United States, shaking hands one by one.
He took my hand firmly as I stepped forward for my turn. I leaned slightly toward him and said "We have something in common, you and I."
"Really? What's that?"
I let his strong grip pull me closer, and spoke in a hushed tone so only he could hear: "Neither of us belongs here."
