Tuesday, January 06, 2026
Gov. Walz steps back
Imagine that the local high school assistant football coach was the governor-- that's pretty much what having Tim Walz as governor here in Minnesota has been like (as I wrote on CNN here). For the most part, that has been a very good thing, and I've been very impressed with his performance as governor. Certain, he and others (the feds who funded the program, most notably) could have done a better job of mandating stronger oversight of COVID- era programs, but that is one of many facets of his job.
The one I got to see most directly was his work as the chair of the state's Pardon Board, which (until 2023) held hearings to hear personally from every petitioner for a commutation or pardon. He was excellent at the job-- personable, engaged, direct, and he treated both victims and petitioners with respect and dignity.
One thing I especially admired was his genuine conflict in some cases-- he really felt both sides of the issue, and was torn. It was very human and honest, and led to fascinating discussions with other members of the Board (the AG and Chief Justice). Particularly in contrast with his predecessor, there was no doubt that he cared, and that propelled a lot of good outcomes, both ways.
Monday, January 05, 2026
Your Resolutions
I loved your poems--and your resolutions-- this week!
This one (anonyous) should be universal:
Worry less, love more
Seek out some new adventures
Give to all who ask.
Seek out some new adventures
Give to all who ask.
While this one is very specific:
My goal: PILATES!
Reformer will make me strong.
I am NOT too old!
Reformer will make me strong.
I am NOT too old!
Des is going to be busy with horses or bikes:
Got new riding stuff
for Christmas, so this year I’ll
ride, ride like the wind!
for Christmas, so this year I’ll
ride, ride like the wind!
While Christine's is more abstract:
Life ever changing
My word for the year is "flow"
I resolve to live...
My word for the year is "flow"
I resolve to live...
And someone, for reasons unknown, has been feeling guilty about napping (which is NOT a reason to feel guilty, unless you are on the job at, say, a nuclear power plant):
Write, pray, walk, yoga—
Listen with my whole heart and
Unrepentant, nap!
Listen with my whole heart and
Unrepentant, nap!
Sunday, January 04, 2026
Sunday Reflection: On War and Freedom
It seems that whenever one country invades another, it projects the invasion as a "liberation" that will bring freedom to the other nation. I understand the instinct, but the track record is pretty poor. Afghanistan, which we "ran" for years, is not exactly a hotbed of individual freedoms right now under the Taliban. Iraq is better-- but as the score above from Freedom House reflects, not so great.
The Constitution's way of maintaining individual liberties (beyond direct guarantees in the Bill of Rights) is to prevent any one governmental institution or person from becoming too powerful-- because that is often when rights are restricted (as we see in places like Venezuela where strongmen rule).
So, if we care about preserving freedoms by preventing any one person from becoming too powerful, we can do that right here... and need to.
What freedoms are we talking about? Americans usually go right to freedom of speech and religion. The sad thing about advanced democracies right now is not that they lack freedom of religion-- they have that, generally-- but that such a freedom is irrelevant. Faith simply is not important in most people's lives, at least in terms of leading them to do things that need to be protected. Sure, we hear a lot about some Christians whose faith seems to be centered on discrimination against LGBTQ people, but that's not the kind of risk I'm talking about, because right now it is no risk at all (and I'm still not sure how it is Christian, but that's a different story). It's rare that faith under freedom is dangerous to a governing regime in a thriving democracy.
What Maduro did that really is objectionable was limit political dissent-- jailing and killing people who opposed the government. And, again, maybe what we need to do is make sure that doesn't happen here...
Saturday, January 03, 2026
Mamdani for those who missed it...
Friday, January 02, 2026
Haiku Friday: Resolutions!
It's that time! And maybe this is your chance to come up with a resolution even if you haven't yet. Here, I will go first:
My mantra this year?
Everyday I write the book
It is in my bones.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, January 01, 2026
Happy New Year! The Razor at 20
It's 2026! And who knows what that has in store for us.
For a lot of people, this day has an odometer-flipping aspect, marking the change to a new time label and era. Because I have spent most of my life on the academic calendar, my brain does not make a lot of January 1-- the "new year" starts with the fall semester.
But I do start this new year with hope. I see so many people working towards good things. One of the things I might be doing with the blog is to highlights some of those people who are working to make things better-- some that I know, some that I don't-- on one day of the week. It will be a way to recognize this 20th year of the Razor.
What do you think? Good idea?
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
The Great Gatsby at 100
First published in 1925, the Great Gatsby is one of the few books that most Americans seem to have read-- and everyone has an opinion about it. There are so many things to disagree about, too! I.e., who is the protagonist? Is Daisy manipulative or manipulated? Is there a problem with a book that does not seem to reflect a multiracial society (other than Tom's toxic racism) becoming a defining American novel?
My own short take on it-- which is different than what I would have said in college-- is that in large part it is a book about war. The key male figures in the book fought in World War One, and the novel takes place not long after their return. The war provided them meaning, and then they returned to find a lack of that. Nick is listless, sitting in the library at the Yale Club all day until he finds some kind of meaning in Gatsby's orbit. Jay Gatsby's obsession with Daisy (and his outlandish efforts to impress her) fills that hole. The women are entwined in this transition, and seem not to find meaning in the usual things expected of women in that day, particularly motherhood.
It's a book about the search for meaning, but there is not a whiff of faith in it-- that is not a place anyone turns. And sometimes what is not in a book, that negative space in the picture, is important, too.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
It's Bowl Season!
It's not just the Game Above Sports Bowl Game that I love-- it's the whole football bowl season, which we are in the middle of right now.
One thing I like tracking each year is the performance of each league in bowl games, in part because it usually shows the weakness in the argument that the SEC is the best top-to-bottom league. For example, here are total results from last year's bowls by conference:
Big 10: 11-6
SEC: 8-7
Big 12: 4-5
ACC: 2-11 (ouch)
In the other conferences, the MAC was 5-2, and the American was a strong 6-2.
This year, the Big 10 is strong once again at 5-0, while the SEC is at 2-4.... but there are a lot of games to go!
Monday, December 29, 2025
How'd it go? A few replies
It was a pretty good Christmas for me, and for many of you! We heard from anonymous, who is living well:
So many parties!
So much singing, eating, walks
My heart is glowing.
So much singing, eating, walks
My heart is glowing.
And Craig A used the word "stocking" in a genius way:
All Good: Scaled back.
Focus on gathering and
stocking simplicity.
Focus on gathering and
stocking simplicity.
IPLawGuy has a favorite part:
The Christmas Pageant
At my Episcopal Church
is my favorite.
At my Episcopal Church
is my favorite.
Or maybe two:
My three late teen kids
Had great moments together
Best present ever.
Had great moments together
Best present ever.
And another anonymous is in... Russia?:
They huddled round borscht
Bowls steaming red,piroshki—
Gave thanks for it all.
Bowls steaming red,piroshki—
Gave thanks for it all.
Sunday, December 28, 2025
Sunday Reflection: The challenge of judgment
My adult life has largely been spent judging other people-- as a prosecutor and as a professor, where I have to issue grades that matter a lot to the people who receive them.
There is a real emotional and moral cost to judging others professionally. I think most people (though not all) would agree that the greater society needs people to perform these two functions, and that we just have to make sure that the people who do them are fair and unbiased.
And that is a part of the cost: to be fair and unbiased is, in an important way, to be selfless. That is, your own beliefs and prejudices can't come into it if the system is to have integrity.
When I look to Jesus for guidance as I judge, I mostly find Him declining to judge at all, and he even teaches "Judge not, lest you be judged." (Matthew 7:1). When he comes upon the people you expect him to judge (the woman at the well, for example) he teaches rather than judges. When he does actually judge people, it is either his own followers or those in power.
And I guess that is part of what I am still learning: when I can, I should teach rather than judge.
Saturday, December 27, 2025
America's only bowl game in Detroit!
One of our family traditions here in Detroit is that we all head downtown on the day after Christmas, have lunch at Zeff's, then walk over to Ford Field for the Game Above Sports Bowl Game Bowl (or something like that), which is the only bowl game played in the Midwest.
This year it matched the 5th-place team in the MAC (Central Michigan) with the 11th-place team in the Big 10 (Northwestern). Given this matchup, it was a little surprising to hear the slogan "Where Champions are Born!" in relation to this game on the PA, but I guess that it is true that at least a champion of the Game Above Sports Bowl Game Bowl was born. And, if you are wondering, said Champion was Northwestern in a blowout.
Here are some of the reasons we keep coming back:
-- Value! I got $6 tickets this year, up from $3 last year.
-- Excitement! Last year's game went to 6 overtimes, and this year
there was a bizarre touchdown/penalty/missed extra point
sequence that I still haven't figured out.
-- Hot dogs! Every year they come up with special hot dogs for
each team and then announce who wins for the most dogs
purchased (Central Michigan).
-- You get to see where the Lions play! Of course not on that day,
of course, but still....
Friday, December 26, 2025
Haiku Friday: How did it go?
Christmas can be joyful, difficult, meaningful, meaningless, and sometimes a mix of all of the above. How was yours? Here, I will go first:
There's so much to do
But I love the few moments
When all is so still.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun....
Thursday, December 25, 2025
Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 24, 2025
Christmas Eve
Everyone has their own routine for Christmas Eve. Some are traveling. Others are preparing for the day tomorrow. A few are getting ready to sing or preach tonight at Christmas Eve services, bathed in candlelight. I do wonder: what will Goldy Gopher be doing?
This is the evening, of course, when I make my corn chowder after church once everyone has arrived from out of town. It's a big pot, because there will be a lot of people here in Michigan! I use this recipe, which I first discussed 18 years ago here on the Razor. Here is part of what I said then, and it is just as true now:
The thing that I feel is the urgency of the travelers who must be fed, the ones awaited. These travelers—they are tired, worried, hungry; and they might not have a bed to sleep in tonight, because it is crowded with other travelers. It’s not a thought, it’s an emotion, and it’s overwhelming. I start to act differently.
It’s time to chop the ham which will go in last, and I reach for the good knife and I cut it thick, big chunks that will fill up a soup spoon with just a little bit of corn hanging on the edge like the last men in a lifeboat. Time is short now, I can’t let the milk boil, but this soup has to be rich and I grab the really great wine and make sure no one can see, and I dump some in, and pile in even more of the ham in a feverish rush. If there is fish, I cut away all but the best parts which are firm and free of bones, and slide them in gently from my palm, and then I call to the others. The travelers come to eat.
It’s hard not to cry, because I know it isn’t good enough. I’m not worthy to feed them, and though they are grateful, I am sad that it can’t be more, that in this season of love I have only carrots, onions, potatoes, milk, bacon, and ham. Could it ever be enough?
It’s time to chop the ham which will go in last, and I reach for the good knife and I cut it thick, big chunks that will fill up a soup spoon with just a little bit of corn hanging on the edge like the last men in a lifeboat. Time is short now, I can’t let the milk boil, but this soup has to be rich and I grab the really great wine and make sure no one can see, and I dump some in, and pile in even more of the ham in a feverish rush. If there is fish, I cut away all but the best parts which are firm and free of bones, and slide them in gently from my palm, and then I call to the others. The travelers come to eat.
It’s hard not to cry, because I know it isn’t good enough. I’m not worthy to feed them, and though they are grateful, I am sad that it can’t be more, that in this season of love I have only carrots, onions, potatoes, milk, bacon, and ham. Could it ever be enough?
Tuesday, December 23, 2025
PMT: Trump Does the Right Thing on Marijuana Scheduling
Last week, President Trump did something good that should have been done years ago by his predecessors: he rescheduled marijuana from being a Schedule 1 narcotic to a listing in Schedule 3.
That may sound very technical, but it has a real impact. The federal regulatory scheme lists a variety of drugs in five "schedules," with Schedule 1 containing the most dangerous drugs. Specifically, Schedule 1 is described as containing drugs that have "no accepted medical use" and a "high" potential for abuse. It includes heroin, LSD and (until now) marijuana. (Cocaine and meth, which have medical uses, are in Schedule 2).
For decades, marijuana was listed in Schedule 1 despite it being a complete fiction that it had "no currently accepted medical use." Many states voted for legal medical use beginning nearly 30 years ago, and doctors have a strong consensus that it can be affective for certain conditions. And yet no one has changed it up to now. Barack Obama should have rescheduled marijuana, but passed on the opportunity, and Biden sat on his hands as well (as did first-term Trump).
Now it is listed in Schedule 3, which contains drugs that have an accepted medical use and a potential for abuse less than those drugs in Schedules 1 and 2.
Some advocates wanted marijuana not to be scheduled at all, and that may happen eventually-- but for now, a change long overdue has occurred.
Monday, December 22, 2025
The Airing of Grievances
My invitation to vent got a lot of responses!
Craig's complaint is environmental:
Climate change Christmas:
Forecast for the twenty-fifth is
Sixty degrees … Grrrrr.
No Christmas sweaters,
no cold, no snow, no pond ice
no fire in fireplace!
Forecast for the twenty-fifth is
Sixty degrees … Grrrrr.
No Christmas sweaters,
no cold, no snow, no pond ice
no fire in fireplace!
As is his fellow Virginian, Desiree's (at least in part):
I sit through a half
hour of ads, previews. There
oughta be a law!
Please don’t explain your
diet choices when you see
no meat on my plate.
We’re seeing wacky
weather changes everywhere.
But sure, it’s a hoax.
You don’t vaccinate
yourself, so my mom gets sick.
Thanks, you’re a giver.
hour of ads, previews. There
oughta be a law!
Please don’t explain your
diet choices when you see
no meat on my plate.
We’re seeing wacky
weather changes everywhere.
But sure, it’s a hoax.
You don’t vaccinate
yourself, so my mom gets sick.
Thanks, you’re a giver.
I hear you, anonymous:
My final exams --
RIDICULOUS EXCUSES!
What is wrong with them????
RIDICULOUS EXCUSES!
What is wrong with them????
And Christine:
My blood is boiling
The Trump Kennedy Center?!?!?
Break his auto-pen.
The Trump Kennedy Center?!?!?
Break his auto-pen.
And this anonymous entry is right on:
Stop the mass shootings!!
Now is time for peace on earth
We all want to live.
Now is time for peace on earth
We all want to live.
And Desiree again:
Dang! Lost my wallet
thanks to those puny pockets
in women’s blue jeans.
thanks to those puny pockets
in women’s blue jeans.
And another anonymous:
Not as lovely as
A clementine but orange
Passions: war, hate,self.
A clementine but orange
Passions: war, hate,self.
And finally, IPLawGuy took the instruction to examine "venting" quite literally not once:
A fire will not burn
Unless set up with venting
Oxygen is key.
Unless set up with venting
Oxygen is key.
Not twice:
The risk of a fire
In the kitchen can be high
If stove does not vent.
In the kitchen can be high
If stove does not vent.
But three times:
In the winter months
My dryer vent puts out steam
from side of the house.
My dryer vent puts out steam
from side of the house.
Sunday, December 21, 2025
Sunday Reflection: A light in darkness
Tomorrow is the last day of Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday that commemorates a small store of oil providing light for eight days, and the re-dedication of the Second Temple during the Maccabean revolt. It's not a major religious holiday, but has a strong cultural significance for many Jews.
At the center of the holiday is the lighting of candles in a menorah. And there is something so simple and beautiful about that, especially in the darkest time of the year.
There is this truth to all of this: a little light is most important when things are darkest.
And this is the time to be that light.
Saturday, December 20, 2025
How America Met Rob Reiner
Friday, December 19, 2025
Haiku Friday: Venting
This month can be stressful, and there is a lot upsetting people these days: politics, Notre Dame not making the football playoffs, a lack of snow in the West, etc. etc. etc. So let's get some venting done before the heart of the Christmas season is here and then turn towards our better angels. Here, I will go first:
It rained just so
It could freeze beneath the snow
Now, cars go skating.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, December 18, 2025
PMT: Rapid-Fire Trump Facts!
Last night, President Trump gave a televised address to the nation. First of all, I'm glad to see him doing this-- one genuine problem with the Biden administration was how rarely we saw him.
It was kind of a weird talk, though, given in a rapid-fire cadence through a sound system that seemed poorly modulated-- only a little better than the PA system in a bus station.
Trump seemed mad and kind of manic; it was like he was packing a one-hour speech into 20 minutes. Usually his speeches have a certain meandering cadence that is part of his charm.
There wasn't a lot of new content: lots about Biden, which is getting pretty stale after nearly a year, and a fair amount of not-actually-true claims about the economy, crime, and some other things. He lashed into Somalis in Minnesota (calling them "Somalians") before saying "inflation has stopped, America is the hottest country, everybody says so, etc etc etc., Merry Christmas." [paraphrased]
I'm not sure anyone is going to see this and change their mind about anything, one way or the other.
