Category Archives: Current Events
Competition
“We’re in competition with China and other countries to win the 21st Century.” ~Joe Biden (source) No we’re not. There is no “competition.” That’s stupid. We have enough already. Let’s take care of the sick and elderly, house the homeless, feed the hungry, educate the young. Somebody else can “win,” whatever that means.
15
I remember what happened the last time they raised the minimum wage. Every apartment complex in town, all at once, raised their rents by an equal amount– and all of the money that was meant to help the working poor instead went to the leisure rich. Upping wages, while important, is not going to repair …
Muddled Muggles
Excerpted from the New York Times article “Why Your Brain Feels Broken” by Jessica Grose:’ “For many of us, life has changed from being divided in well-defined areas of work, kids, activities, to a situation where everything is a mix,” Dr. (Marie) Eckerström said, and that muddling puts a strain on our cognitive abilities. This …
Attention!
“Attention is a limited resource, so pay attention to where you pay attention.” ~Howard Rheingold, quoted in the New York Times piece I Talked to the Cassandra of the Internet Age by Michael Goldhaber, available online HERE.
Local Boy Does Good
Superbowl quarterback Patrick Mahomes grew up not far from where I live, and a lot of the yards have signs in them that read “We Love Our Patrick!” with a Chiefs’ logo. I was thinking that would have to be a real morale boost– not just for Mr. Mahomes, but for anybody named “Patrick.” 🙂
Call It Kindness
Every time someone tries to do something to help somebody else, some grinning gargoyle of a conservative jumps up and shouts “SOCIALISM!” and everybody runs away in horror at the bogeyman they just created. It’s absurd. I want to live in a country where hungry people are fed, sick people are healed, and everyone has …
Mitch
When Wall Street wanted trillions of dollars to cover their bad investments, Mitch McConnell came running. When rich people wanted a tax break to make themselves even richer, he was happy to oblige. When corporations realized they could make even more money by compromising worker safety and destroying the environment, he rushed to get his …
“The Science Of?”
“The left will have to understand the science of ‘meet you in the middle.’” ~Matthew McConaughey (source) I’m going to need some details before I take this line as anything but condescending. How do I meet racism “in the middle?” How do I meet science denial in the middle? How do I meet homophobia in …
Burn It Down
From Chris Rock: I had my father get sick when I was 22. And I was poor, alright. And my father had an ulcer, and it exploded and you know all these toxins get in your blood. And basically, my father died, whatever, 50 days after his ulcer. So I had a father get sick …
Encouraged to Discover
From the article “The Moral Contortions of the New University” by Justin Smith, in The Chronicle of Higher Education: I believe that students, for the sake of their own thriving as human beings, should be required to study at university only things that have nothing to do with their own life up until that point. …
Sorry, Abe.
I think it’s time for America to amicably dissolve the union. Our differences are simply too great, and it will be impossible to hold this thing together without violence.
