Imponderables I know a lot is going on in the world. North Korea continues to rattle their sabers, and the US continues to promise to wipe them out if they screw up. There are uncontrolled fires in the West, floods in Houston, the Florida Keys are monumentally damaged by Irma, and many of the windward … Continue reading Imponderables
Book Review: The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne
The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne “But I won’t tell you my mother’s name. Because this isn’t her story. It’s mine.” The narrator is Helen Pelletier, married to Stephen, mother of two small daughters for whom she would kill to protect. And she might have to do just that. “I was born two years … Continue reading Book Review: The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne
Strange. We have become Strange
Strange Our country has turned strange. I mean really strange. Let’s start with the simple hypocrisy that the anti-government, small government Texas Republicans were the fastest and first to request Federal Government assistance with Hurricane Harvey. Ted “Cut Everything” Cruz led the charge. Now, I think Federal Disaster Relief is a good thing and Houston … Continue reading Strange. We have become Strange
It Is Time To Call It What It Is
The Trump administration is demeaning and diminishing the institutions that support our faith in ourselves and our form of governing. Moreover, Mr. Trump is the force leading this destruction of our faith and confidence. He is a poster child for all of the worst that one could imagine for our country. His personal preference for … Continue reading It Is Time To Call It What It Is
Quit Making Me Feel Guilty and Give Me Some Solutions
Quit Making Me Feel Guilty and Give Me Some Solutions David Brooks just wrote an Op/Ed piece in the NY Times that infuriated me even though I agreed with many of his points. Brooks has been making more sense to me lately, but I believe he mostly missed the boat with this one. Read "How … Continue reading Quit Making Me Feel Guilty and Give Me Some Solutions
The War On Empathy
A War on Empathy I was listening to Terri Gross’s “Fresh Air” the other day as she was interviewing the British singer/songwriter/author/rock historian Billy Bragg and he said two things that really hit me as tremendously insightful. First, he said the most dangerous thing happening in our societies (the UK and USA, but I assume … Continue reading The War On Empathy
How Men Treat Women
How Men Treat Women I read a lot of books and occasionally write a review of some of the books I read. I do this mostly for my own amusement and because my memory seems to fail me every time someone asks, “have you read anything good lately?” Before this new blog, when I posted … Continue reading How Men Treat Women
The New Gestapo
The New Gestapo I see a pattern here. The latest incidents are from United and include the kids refused flight boarding because of their leggings and the Asian doctor bloodied and forcibly removed from the plane because he was “randomly” selected to make room for a United “operations” employee. But there are many other recent examples … Continue reading The New Gestapo
Trigger Warnings
I do not cotton much to the concept of “trigger warnings”. I have enough trouble with movie ratings to spend time worrying about the delicate sensibilities of undergraduates making a social movement out of victimology. If you are enrolled in college, taking a literature course and you can’t figure out that Huckleberry Finn is going … Continue reading Trigger Warnings
