Saturday, October 04, 2025
Actual poster tweeted out by the US Department of Labor
I'm a fan of Soviet propaganda posters, but there is something that seems a little off here for the US in 2025.
Also, what is this guy's job? He has no safety equipment on, so it seems unlikely he is a construction worker. Hmmm.
Friday, October 03, 2025
Haiku Friday: October
This is my favorite month, and I wish it could go on for a while. But its fleeting nature is part of what makes it special. Let's haiku about October this week. Here, I will go first:
Sunday, Luce Line Trail
A path of dazzling colors
Cold cider awaits.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable formula and have some fun!
Thursday, October 02, 2025
PMT: The Shutdown
In late 1995 and early 1996, I was a federal employee during a 21-day shutdown of the government during the Clinton administration. As a federal prosecutor, I was an essential worker and continued doing my job, though we were not paid until after the shutdown ended. It was an odd time, but not too much of a hardship (for people like me, anyways); it came over the holidays when many people weren't at work anyways and our work didn't stop.
I have a hunch this shutdown could be much more calamitous. There is the prospect of permanent changes being done to employment and workplaces while the government mechanisms are shut down, and federal workers are already under much more stress-- from layoffs, buyouts, losing union protections, and more-- than existed under Clinton.
Democrats have almost no other leverage right now, and have a strong incentive to maintain that leverage. Republicans are unlikely to make concessions anytime soon.
The shutdown will create shadows, and bad things happen in the shadows.
Wednesday, October 01, 2025
Wise words from Craig A.
Sometimes, there is a comment to my post that is better than my original post. And often that comment is from my mentor and friend Craig who, despite his odd and misguided choices in sports fandom, often brings great clarity to a situation. Here was his comment:
Mark, the more I read about this story the worse it gets … and the further this decision by “the powers to be” at Baylor and in the conservative wing of the Baptist tradition walks away from the core of the Gospel. So sad. So misguided.
Matthew 22:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
In my reading, there are no qualifiers, no asterisks.
From the NASW Code of Ethics (as your sister knows):
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients.
Sounds very resonate with the core of Jesus’s teachings.
Matthew 22:
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
In my reading, there are no qualifiers, no asterisks.
From the NASW Code of Ethics (as your sister knows):
The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. Social workers promote social justice and social change with and on behalf of clients.
Sounds very resonate with the core of Jesus’s teachings.
It echoes what I have been thinking about in the past few days-- that Christianity takes a a bad turn when it turns away from those two Great Commandments of Christ and towards judgment and correction of others. And Christian institutions seem to do that a lot lately.
