Friday, January 17, 2025
Haiku Friday: Good-bye, Joe Biden
On Monday, we will have a new old president, and Joe Biden will officially be de-inaugurated (which is the ceremony where he turns in his keys and laptop and then departs Washington in a hot air balloon). Biden leaves with the worst approval numbers of his entire tenure, and I'm not sure why that is, exactly. So let's haiku about him this week. Here, I will go first:
Clemency waited
Until the very last month
But then... I'll take it!
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable count and have some fun!
Thursday, January 16, 2025
PMT: Biden's farewell
With almost a week to go, it seems a little early for a farewell speech, but that is what we got from President Biden last night. Part of what he warned of was the growing power of the super-rich. He's right about that, of course, but unfortunately did little to address wealth disparities (or even talk about it) during the heart of his presidency. That was, after all, Bernie Sanders' issue, and Bernie was right (as was Elizabeth Warren, who often talked about the same thing). It's a little late to come to the side he defeated in the primaries back in 2020.
He also warned about a "tech-industrial complex," which seems to be a play on Eisenhower's reference to a "military-industrial complex" in his own farewell. The problem is that Eisenhower's term made sense (the military and its suppliers in industry really were a dangerous and powerful influence) while "tech-industrial" doesn't make much sense because there is not the same kind of combination between tech and industry (beyond the extent to which tech IS an industry). Tech doesn't much care where industry is, after all-- here or in Europe or in China. Tech has a fundamental interest in internationalism and free markets, while industry has a fundamental interest in protected markets. They don't align in the way Biden suggests.
Of course, the power of tech companies is real, but also is a field of rapid innovation and real competition (at least for now).
In the end, Biden never found a theme that worked for him and the American people. He hit a good one at the end-- the dangers of a super-wealthy class-- but he was new to that game and had pushed aside those who were best at presenting that narrative.
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Open Minds (PBS)
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
One Week
One week from today, we will see the inauguration of Donald Trump as the President of the United States (for the second time). He actually has a surprisingly long list of things he has said he will do on that first day:
-- Pardon Jan. 6 defendants
-- Begin mass deportations
-- Shut down the US/Mexico border
-- End the Russia-Ukraine war
-- Reinstate travel bans
-- Suspend the admission of refugees into the country
-- End the Biden-era app for migrants (CBP One)
-- End birthright citizenship
-- Stop the "electric vehicle mandate" and other Green New Deal programs
-- Remove "every single burdensome regulation" that drives up the cost of goods
-- Ban transgender people from the military and sports
-- Cut federal funding for "woke" schools that teach critical race theory
-- Restrict DEI programs
There's more, of course, but those are most of the big ones.
Will he be able to do all that?
Well, no. I doubt he can end the war in Ukraine (at least on Day One). Ending birthright citizenship would seem to take a Constitutional amendment. But he could direct federal offices not to recognize birthright citizenship, and then wait for the ensuing (and probably losing) court battle to begin.
Much of these goals, however, can be the subject of executive orders signed on that first day, and I fully expect him to sign a giant stack of them-- and their legality and implementation will take a while to sort out.
At any rate.... it will be a big news day.
Monday, January 13, 2025
Poems of fire and snow
So many good haiku!
We had a no less than three from Virginians: CraigA, Des, and IPLawGuy. CraigA's first:
We Virginians do
Not know what to do with the
White stuff: Bless our hearts!
Not know what to do with the
White stuff: Bless our hearts!
And Des:
And IPLawGuy:
Fire and cold weather
Nature will refresh and cleanse
Humans must adjust.
Nature will refresh and cleanse
Humans must adjust.
Christine weighed in from neighboring North Carolina:
Handy ice scrapper
Sits unused in the glove box
Waiting patiently
I am traveling
Snow expected in Durham
Cold in Florida.
Sits unused in the glove box
Waiting patiently
I am traveling
Snow expected in Durham
Cold in Florida.
And Jill Scoggins from neighboring Kentucky (formerly part of Virginia, in fact) had this gem:
City draped in white…
New tracks each morning reveal
critters come by night
These visitors leave
a roadmap of indents on
my yard, front and back
Where do they come from?
Where are they going? What do
they do as I sleep?
Under cover, I
stay warm, unaware of this
entire other world.
New tracks each morning reveal
critters come by night
These visitors leave
a roadmap of indents on
my yard, front and back
Where do they come from?
Where are they going? What do
they do as I sleep?
Under cover, I
stay warm, unaware of this
entire other world.
And a bunch of anonymous entries... here are three of my favorites. One:
She sat smartly in
High heels and Chanel, ladling
Ice into Chablis.
High heels and Chanel, ladling
Ice into Chablis.
Two:
Behind cottage in
The snowy meadow sparrows
Vie for a seed feast.
The snowy meadow sparrows
Vie for a seed feast.
And Three:
Body iced, she clung
To stone,and whispered from grave
He knelt with a rose.
To stone,and whispered from grave
He knelt with a rose.
Sunday, January 12, 2025
There is something about this passage in Luke 3 that always baffled me:
15As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, 16John answered all of them by saying, “I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
21Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heaven was opened, 22and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Talk about faith! People are being baptized in the name of Jesus, and he isn't even there yet. That's pretty incredible.
However, the Messiah that John describes isn't much like the Jesus in the gospels. While Jesus does talk about God's judgment, he isn't that judgmental himself except for a few spates of anger (at Peter, the moneychangers in the temple, etc.). John the Baptist seems to be describing someone who really leans into the "unquenchable fire" side of things, but that's not Jesus, who is much more about hope, forgiveness and love.
Saturday, January 11, 2025
AI Trauma
Want to know why a whole generation (mine) distrusts AI? Meet Clippy:
Friday, January 10, 2025
Haiku Friday: Fire and Snow
In the South, it is snowing. In California, it is burning. What to make of it all? Let's haiku about these things-- in any way you want-- this week. Here, I will go first:
We Minnesotans
With our shovels and snowplows
Look on with concern.
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern, and have some fun!
Thursday, January 09, 2025
PMT: The Fires
I love California: the sunshine, the cultures, the ability to go from desert to snow to beach in one day. But man, do they get hit with natural disasters!
Now, again, it is fire. The several fires in Los Angeles County have been remarkably destructive in highly populated areas, and the effects will be felt for years:
-- There's little doubt that the insurance claims will be unparalleled. The cost will be enormous, and in the end insurers will end up charging people across the country higher rates. It will be a new form of inflation, and will be especially steep in California-- but the rest of us will probably feel it, too.
-- Politicians of all types will make claims blaming others, of course, and that game has already begun.
-- What isn't being talked about much, at least not yet, is climate change. I'm not a scientist, but I am looking forward to reading about the connection between climate change and these fires.
Wednesday, January 08, 2025
Peter Yarrow, 1938-2025
As if on cue as the Bob Dylan movie I wrote about yesterday brought attention back to the folk scene of the early to mid-1960's, Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary died this week. That's them in the video, singing a song that Pete Seeger wrote in 1949.
I remember these songs from the records (vinyl!) that my parents and their friends had and would play at dinner or parties. His father, Bernard, was a Ukrainian immigrant who came to the United States at age 23 and then went to Columbia and Columbia Law School. He was a prosecutor in New York under Thomas Dewey and then worked for Sullivan & Cromwell, a prominent firm.
[Just saying... this does not seem to be leading to raising a kid who a career in folk music, does it?]
Peter Yarrow grew up in New York and went to Cornell where he would have overlapped with my dad's time there, I think-- something I never realized. He later married Eugene McCarthy's niece in Wilmar, Minnesota and his bandmate Paul wrote this song for it:
And since everything around here recently comes back to clemency pretty quickly, Peter Yarrow received a pardon from Jimmy Carter, for the crime of taking "improper liberties" with a 14-year-old girl. He served three months in prison-- much less than he would likely have received today.
Tuesday, January 07, 2025
A Complete Unknown
Last weekend I went to see the new Bob Dylan movie, "A Complete Unknown." I liked it a lot, and more than anything it made me remember a lot of great music. It does reveal Dylan to be kind of a jerk sometimes, and I'm a bit surprised that he approved of the movie. But... I suppose he knows he can be kind of a jerk sometimes, and prizes honesty.
I've seen Dylan perform twice. Once, Larry Bates and I traveled from Waco to Sioux Falls SD to see him play at the Canary Cage (the home field of the minor league baseball stadium). You wouldn't expect it, but he was fantastic-- a great and lengthy show. He's known to be kind of hit-or-miss, and this was a hit. The other time was in Detroit, with Tom Petty. They spotted Bob Seger in the audience and pulled him up to do "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," and that was fantastic.
But I learned something new with this movie, and I'm still taking it in...
Monday, January 06, 2025
So many great haiku on dancing!
So many great haiku this week about dancing! Jill Scoggins was good at it:
Study or disco?
College years spent making that
choice. Yeah. Disco won.
College years spent making that
choice. Yeah. Disco won.
IPLawGuy, maybe not so much (but I think he is probably wrong):
Only a few moves
Clumsy enthusiasm
Would love a partner.
Clumsy enthusiasm
Would love a partner.
Tim has a dim self-assessment:
On two left feet with
A total lack of rhythm
Trying to stand up.
A total lack of rhythm
Trying to stand up.
Des has a positive view (as she should):
Dancing at my son’s
wedding - “Little bit softer
now,” brings us all in.
The fountain of youth
ain’t in Florida. It’s on
a hoppin’ dance floor!
wedding - “Little bit softer
now,” brings us all in.
The fountain of youth
ain’t in Florida. It’s on
a hoppin’ dance floor!
The Medievalist, too:
Dancing adventures,
Coming of age at a dance,
Lovely memories.
Coming of age at a dance,
Lovely memories.
There were a few excellent anonymous entries, including this:
They were born limbs linked.
With no flaw, they sync steps—
Kiss to Glenn Miller.
With no flaw, they sync steps—
Kiss to Glenn Miller.
And this:
She looked like a full-blown rose—
Dancing on toes alert,
Leapt in space ,fearless.
Dancing on toes alert,
Leapt in space ,fearless.
And this:
She in mom’s sewing, they twist
He high above her,
She dwarfed…Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.!
He high above her,
She dwarfed…Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.!
Christine got (and gives) some good advice:
Someone told me to
Dance with reckless abandon
And joy shall follow.
Dance with reckless abandon
And joy shall follow.
And finally, a historical note from IPLawGuy:
tune "Dance, Little Sister Dance"
by Jagger/Richards.
Sunday, January 05, 2025
Sunday Reflection: What of Christianity?
I know that a lot of Christians are down right now about the state of the faith. Christian Nationalism bastardizes the church, membership is down, and large swaths of the public associate Christianity with racism, anti-LGBTQ bias, MAGA worship and hostility to immigrants. Sadly, much of that is a part of some sects of Christianity today.
In the end, though, this is a faith that is about the teachings of Jesus as found in the Gospels. It's a pretty limited set of central texts, actually. Any fair reading of those words countermands all those cruelties creeping into the faith, of course, and in the end that is what will steer us back: the actual teachings of Jesus, centered on love.
I can't change the whole of Christianity, but I can say what I know to be true-- and I am going to keep doing that, knowing that my principles are rooted in what Jesus actually taught rather than what others might want to sell.
Saturday, January 04, 2025
So... was it targeting?
Friday, January 03, 2025
Haiku Friday: Dancing!
Yes, Thanksgiving at my house featured kitchen dancing again (pictured above), which is one of my favorite parts of the holiday. I do feel like there is not enough of that in our lives, So let's haiku about dancing this week! Here, I will go first, with a college memory:
I knew a dancer
She spelled out her address
With limbs (and some hints).
Now it is your turn! Just use the 5/7/5 syllable pattern and have some fun!
Thursday, January 02, 2025
PMT: The Health Effects of Drinking
When I asked AI for some images of drunk people, it gave me a lot like this picture: Attractive white people who seem to be having no issues at all.
Being drunk, from what I have seen, is consistently less attractive.
And now it appears that the supposed health benefits of moderate drinking are probably not true-- especially as people get older.
I suspect that the economic forces behind alcohol consumption-- makers of beer and wine, bars, restaurants, etc.-- will push back or ignore the new scientific conclusions that generally say even moderate drinking is bad for your health. Sadly, it seems that in our country there is often that dynamic: science tells us what is bad, and the companies that make money off that thing challenge the science. Even with smoking, that dynamic persisted for decades.
Capitalism is good for a lot of things, but public health may not be one of them.
Wednesday, January 01, 2025
Hopes for the new year....
When I asked AI to create a picture of "Donald Trump giving a speech to bears," this is what it gave me. I'm mostly intrigued by the second (and apparently younger) Donald Trump in the audience. I'm not sure what to make of that.
Probably, not too much. And at this point, that is probably a good lesson for prognosticating about the new year. We can be sure it will be full of surprises, at least!
But I hope for peace in this world, and for kindness, and for a sense of hope among those who long for it-- which is pretty much all of us.
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
In the Star Tribune
I decided to build out Sunday's post on Jimmy Carter into an op-ed, which is appearing at the Minnesota Star Tribune. You can read it here.
Monday, December 30, 2024
Poems of games
Can I just say? Anonymous (anonymouses?) are bringing it. I loved this haiku:
And we were there in
This Cathedral of Baseball
Moon rising o’erhead.
This Cathedral of Baseball
Moon rising o’erhead.
This one tells a story, too:
He could sit by his
New-fangled radio and
Hear Cards play all games.
New-fangled radio and
Hear Cards play all games.
And to understand this one, well, Othello is a high school in Washington State where some very good students come from:
Othello Huskies
Ran onto the field
We cheered storm of hope.
Ran onto the field
We cheered storm of hope.
This poem is very Minnesota:
A walk—Linden Hills
Shopping held tight she looked up—
Into smile—Kirby!!
Shopping held tight she looked up—
Into smile—Kirby!!
The Medievalist has Baylor in him from way back, and I love how he put it:
Watching Baylor play
In the Cotten Bowl in
1974.
I was just a kid,
Getting to know my future
Employer and home.
In the Cotten Bowl in
1974.
I was just a kid,
Getting to know my future
Employer and home.
And from the DC contingent, Des follows the Commanders:
Beating New Orleans
by a point! Come from behind,
burgundy and gold!
by a point! Come from behind,
burgundy and gold!
And IPLawGuy harkens back to when DC's closest team was in Baltimore:
Seen Two No Hitters
World Series, All Star, Cal's Streak
First game, crystal clear.
World Series, All Star, Cal's Streak
First game, crystal clear.
Sunday, December 29, 2024
A moment with Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter had a profound affect on my life. In 2008, he came to a talk I gave. Afterwards, he rose and instead of praising me, he challenged me to do more. He was right, and I took his criticism to heart. He was a good man for our world, and a Great Man to me.
I described that in my book "Prosecuting Jesus." Later, I wrote to him and told him that, and he wrote me back.
Sunday Reflection: Christmas Continues
It's still Christmas, at least in the liturgical season, and that has always meant something to me. After the waiting of advent, the quiet I sought (sometimes unsuccessfully), this is a season of joy. And I have found that, too, in being with family back in Detroit, seeing my Mom well, and enjoying the warmth that can come on a cold day from being with those people who know you best (and love you anyways).
It's a time, too, to take joy in faith that starts with the birth of Jesus, and I have felt that, too. It kind of sneaks up on me, actually-- I have these moments of realization that can come from music or prayer or just... kind of out of nowhere. And how great is that?
