"The sky is falling. The sky is falling"! Not sure if it is yet, but if not, can it be far behind with all the other unthinkable's happening. Your observation's are so keen and spot on that I feel we have a coffee conversation each morning with you doing most of the talking and me, shaking my head and saying occasionally,"Oh, my god"! The unbelievable happens each day and with it comes the eroding of the belief we had in any salvation our laws and constitution could possibly afford us. Trump has shattered lives, dreams, hopes, and laws as he and his administration stagger across the world in lockstep with all the heinous names of the present and past. Can we recover is the question and if so, when?
When I was outside yesterday giving my yard some of the serious attention it is well beyond needing (Spring IS springing), I was struck by how much I have missed and could've already accomplished had I not had so much of my time STOLEN by this last year and a half and the miserable people who are destroying everything. And I thought how possibly about almost the last half of what I may have in my remaining years have been scarred and traumatized by all these lousy f--kers!! Meanwhile, it was great getting so physical and dirty!!
The other thing, in reading this essay, is that it reminded me of how the government of Israel celebrated the acceptance of making hanging of Palestinians and ONLY Palestinians for their crimes legal. They proudly wore gold noose lapel pins! Firing squads, among the menu of other death sentences for our justice system...?...holy crap!
Thank you, Mary, for illustrating that this administration is pure unadulterated evil. The stench from it permeates everything around it: the air, the water, people's souls. I hope the midterms will truly free us from them all.
Enjoy your day with your family; you deserve some time away from this madness however brief. We appreciate you.
Wow! That was kind of bleak. The only thing left out was the unpredictability of humans. Who would of ever predicted, or even thought possible, what would eventually happen in Hungary.
Just because you don't see the tsunami does not necessarily mean it's not coming...
Sadly, it is bleak! The view from where we were to where we are has been marred by evil people and dark money and the road ahead to just get back to "normal", whatever that is, is long and arduous. Meanwhile, as war is threatened by two old white men, the song that play's in my head is, "Only the good die young"! Our young men and women who go off , by order's of a warmonger, are the loser's again. It is bleak!
It is creating anxiety among 18+ young men (yes, not ladies) when automatic draft registration may be a plan to provide Hegseth et al with “cannon fodder” for the current war. A 20 year old grandson (already registered, btw) shared that he & his friends are concerned that they could get pulled into this mess a la Vietnam kissing their educations and futures goodbye.
True as far as registering for the draft, but young women have signed up right out of high school of their own volition. Furthering their future education used to be the main reason but now, it may be just to have a job. That service job, whether it's National Guard or one of the main service organizations, could land them in the middle of trump's war.
You want "bleak"? Read the Substack posts from 'I F***ing Love Australia" who seems to really have his finger on the pulse of energy issues, which are worse than most media are reporting. The next few weeks could prove truly difficult as the last of the shipped and reserve oil gets used up...and there's no more to replace it with.
Thank you for all your very insightful columns.It is so easy when reading stories about individual topics to lose the bigger picture. Your ability to stitch it all together into an interconnected narrative is very helpful.
Time with our children is precious - I hope you and Marz have a wonderful time with your son and are able to leave some of this craziness in the dirt for the afternoon.
What’s real and true often feels bizarre and fantastical these days. Your ability to see the big picture even when the dots don’t seem to connect (except as more examples of insanity and chaos) is an important anchor to reality. Enjoy time with family!
PS: Stock market advisors and investors are betting on a few winners in a dystopian future for most of humanity. Meanwhile, Trump’s cabal is fostering unsustainable national debt, the death of federal government and the rule of law by 1000 large and small cuts, a heyday for corruption in all sectors, and the loss of decency and sanity in foreign policy which imperils the worth of Treasuries (income to offset debt). These factors are not comforting when looking ahead.
I struggle through the first paragraphs of ruinous strategy of our government just to get to the last paragraphs of pleasure. I am going to hire a contractor, though, to clean up and refresh the condition of our yard and trees so that we have a picnic celebration of my son's graduation from residency at the end of June, and get him moved to Portland (Oregon, not Maine)! <3
This video below is worth a look. Robert Pape is an American political scientist, professor at the University of Chicago, and expert on international security, terrorism, and political violence
Professor Robert Pape argues that the United States is currently losing its leverage in the conflict with Iran, as Donald Trump is caught in an "escalation trap" while attempting to secure a face-saving victory
Iran is successfully playing "power politics of the first order" while the Trump administration is failing to understand the gravity of the shift, resulting in a trajectory where Iran gains strength regardless of whether the U.S. continues to escalate or attempts to walk away
Pape asserts that the situation is a zero-sum game regarding nuclear enrichment and control of the Strait of Hormuz, meaning there is no middle ground for easy negotiation
He posits that Iran is intentionally avoiding de-escalation because they seek to establish themselves as a major global power and actively want to sabotage Donald Trump's presidency
"The sky is falling. The sky is falling"! Not sure if it is yet, but if not, can it be far behind with all the other unthinkable's happening. Your observation's are so keen and spot on that I feel we have a coffee conversation each morning with you doing most of the talking and me, shaking my head and saying occasionally,"Oh, my god"! The unbelievable happens each day and with it comes the eroding of the belief we had in any salvation our laws and constitution could possibly afford us. Trump has shattered lives, dreams, hopes, and laws as he and his administration stagger across the world in lockstep with all the heinous names of the present and past. Can we recover is the question and if so, when?
When I was outside yesterday giving my yard some of the serious attention it is well beyond needing (Spring IS springing), I was struck by how much I have missed and could've already accomplished had I not had so much of my time STOLEN by this last year and a half and the miserable people who are destroying everything. And I thought how possibly about almost the last half of what I may have in my remaining years have been scarred and traumatized by all these lousy f--kers!! Meanwhile, it was great getting so physical and dirty!!
The other thing, in reading this essay, is that it reminded me of how the government of Israel celebrated the acceptance of making hanging of Palestinians and ONLY Palestinians for their crimes legal. They proudly wore gold noose lapel pins! Firing squads, among the menu of other death sentences for our justice system...?...holy crap!
Moral Authority is not a phrase to be found in the lexicon of the current administrative fiasco, nor is it known by the GOP congressional members.
Thank you, Mary, for illustrating that this administration is pure unadulterated evil. The stench from it permeates everything around it: the air, the water, people's souls. I hope the midterms will truly free us from them all.
Enjoy your day with your family; you deserve some time away from this madness however brief. We appreciate you.
Wow! That was kind of bleak. The only thing left out was the unpredictability of humans. Who would of ever predicted, or even thought possible, what would eventually happen in Hungary.
Just because you don't see the tsunami does not necessarily mean it's not coming...
Sadly, it is bleak! The view from where we were to where we are has been marred by evil people and dark money and the road ahead to just get back to "normal", whatever that is, is long and arduous. Meanwhile, as war is threatened by two old white men, the song that play's in my head is, "Only the good die young"! Our young men and women who go off , by order's of a warmonger, are the loser's again. It is bleak!
It is creating anxiety among 18+ young men (yes, not ladies) when automatic draft registration may be a plan to provide Hegseth et al with “cannon fodder” for the current war. A 20 year old grandson (already registered, btw) shared that he & his friends are concerned that they could get pulled into this mess a la Vietnam kissing their educations and futures goodbye.
True as far as registering for the draft, but young women have signed up right out of high school of their own volition. Furthering their future education used to be the main reason but now, it may be just to have a job. That service job, whether it's National Guard or one of the main service organizations, could land them in the middle of trump's war.
You want "bleak"? Read the Substack posts from 'I F***ing Love Australia" who seems to really have his finger on the pulse of energy issues, which are worse than most media are reporting. The next few weeks could prove truly difficult as the last of the shipped and reserve oil gets used up...and there's no more to replace it with.
Thank you for all your very insightful columns.It is so easy when reading stories about individual topics to lose the bigger picture. Your ability to stitch it all together into an interconnected narrative is very helpful.
Time with our children is precious - I hope you and Marz have a wonderful time with your son and are able to leave some of this craziness in the dirt for the afternoon.
What’s real and true often feels bizarre and fantastical these days. Your ability to see the big picture even when the dots don’t seem to connect (except as more examples of insanity and chaos) is an important anchor to reality. Enjoy time with family!
PS: Stock market advisors and investors are betting on a few winners in a dystopian future for most of humanity. Meanwhile, Trump’s cabal is fostering unsustainable national debt, the death of federal government and the rule of law by 1000 large and small cuts, a heyday for corruption in all sectors, and the loss of decency and sanity in foreign policy which imperils the worth of Treasuries (income to offset debt). These factors are not comforting when looking ahead.
I struggle through the first paragraphs of ruinous strategy of our government just to get to the last paragraphs of pleasure. I am going to hire a contractor, though, to clean up and refresh the condition of our yard and trees so that we have a picnic celebration of my son's graduation from residency at the end of June, and get him moved to Portland (Oregon, not Maine)! <3
This video below is worth a look. Robert Pape is an American political scientist, professor at the University of Chicago, and expert on international security, terrorism, and political violence
Professor Robert Pape argues that the United States is currently losing its leverage in the conflict with Iran, as Donald Trump is caught in an "escalation trap" while attempting to secure a face-saving victory
Iran is successfully playing "power politics of the first order" while the Trump administration is failing to understand the gravity of the shift, resulting in a trajectory where Iran gains strength regardless of whether the U.S. continues to escalate or attempts to walk away
https://youtu.be/pcfvn8PvLJ0?si=iTChrZb6MfqF_fC5
Pape asserts that the situation is a zero-sum game regarding nuclear enrichment and control of the Strait of Hormuz, meaning there is no middle ground for easy negotiation
He posits that Iran is intentionally avoiding de-escalation because they seek to establish themselves as a major global power and actively want to sabotage Donald Trump's presidency