Sunday Morning Coming Down

It has been written that General Malley spoke to a member of the Chinese Military regarding the possibility of an American attack on China during the final days of the Trump Administration. I'm not an expert on military affairs, but criticism of the General for trying to allay the fears of Chinese leaders is misplaced. The United States of America went through an election process where an unpopular president complained that any election that did not result in his continuing in office was rigged and the results were invalid was the catalyst for this type of communication.  Saturday's main event is    "Justice for J6" rally.  Which is an attempt to   continue to deny reality about the 2020 Presidential Election. The results of the election were clear.  Joe Biden won 306 votes in the Electoral College and a majority of the popular vote.  And normally there would have been a concession speech, a close out of one administration and a transition to a new adm...

  At-will employment  describes a working environment in which employers are free to terminate employees at any time, without cause, explanation or prior warning, provided it does not violate state and federal anti-discrimination laws. You might not have to join a union in a "right to work" state but you also might benefit from the work conditions and the holidays they bargained for. I think most folks appreciate the idea that you might get an explanation or a warning before they lost their job. And more than a few employers I've encountered listening to unemployment claims hearings conveniently confuse getting laid off with getting rid of a bad hire to avoid paying UI benefits in a slow down. This isn't always a cut and dried situation especially when it comes to public employees and taxes are involved. Be careful what you ask for, you might get it.

These are highlights from the Bulwark that I follow on Twitter.  I would think the Republican Party of today would be proud that Lincoln was able to keep the from splintering into the slaveholding south and industrial north.  I've been told that the Republican Party of my youth and while living in Illinois has changed and it is not the same.   The saddest thing about that comment is that change in the discussion has manifested itself in ways that are more worrisome than ever.   The never Trump folks failed in 2016 and did their best to ignore Trump, as much as possible except for appointing judges which was sort of baked into a process that became a political rubber stamp.   The "Big Lie Election" which began before the election and continues to this day still seems like somebody hit the mute button where you might say one thing to your friends about the 2020 Election or say nothing if you think it might sully your reputation amongst the "believer...

 My last solo trip on an airplane was after the TSA started screening passengers and I remember almost missing my flight because it took some time to put on my belt and shoes and get to the gate and again having to adjust my belt as I sat in my seat on the airplane before taking off. My nephew accompanied to the airport and traveled with me this trip.  The TSA folks kept moving me over to the short lines, the guy at the front desk asked me if I needed a wheelchair.  Long story shortened I guess I looked like an accident waiting to happen and I would probably screw up the longer line if I fell down.  Being out of practice, I forgot to take off my belt and was excused from taking off my shoes, preferring to being wanded and explaining I had a hip replacement and would need a chair to put my shoes back on.   Moving sidewalks seemed less daunting than a "train" with various stops along the concourse with the added advantage of admiring art in public places and ...

Quandaries are real and most folks and end up in predicaments more often than we wish on ourselves.   The pandemic has brought on some pretty big changes and some quandaries too.  I'm not forced to go back twenty years to 9/11 but there were decisions made about that terrorist attack that set off the never ending war on terror and launched the field of counterterrorism.  Homeland Security, the TSA,  air marshals and all the way to taking off your shoes at airports unless you are 75+ I gather. How many folks wondered after the toppling of the World Trade Center Twin Towers if the world would be coming to an lot sooner than we might have imagined.  What if the United States had used nuclear weapons to punish Al Qaeda? and what would the response have been from our adversaries? The 2001 burial of my Mom was delayed because all the airports were closed and when they reopened there were National Guard folks with M-16s.  She died on September 9th My brother-...

How was the play Mrs. Lincoln?  Be careful what you ask for: you might get it.  And a lot of folks who don't blame themselves for what happened before they were born or even their parents were born might take a moment to pause and reflect. This isn't meant to be snarky.   Requiem for a Nun  is the source of one of  Faulkner ' s  best-known lines, " The   past   is  never dead. It's  not  even  past ." Ask yourself about the American Indian Wars?  Ask yourself about the Mexican American War.  Ask yourself about the Civil War in the USA?  Ask yourself about "colonialism"?  Ask yourself about WWI, WWII.  Why were these wars started and was the end of these wars the beginning of a lasting "peace".   And then there was the "war against communism".  Cuba, North Korea, and Viet Nam, Russia, China, Kosovo, and a few other places, maybe they aren't shooting wars any more but it's still like a...

Over the last six years I've come to believe that a significant portion of this country has decided they would rather ignore issues, or deny that problems exist or invent problems that don't exist to justify or believe whatever they want. Sadly enough the tools exist to stir up enough stuff that even what is rock solid can be called into question and enough of a crowd can be whipped up to do even more damage to institutions that are already hard pressed to provide a common experience. My older sister said I should "keep my own counsel" or translated "keep my plans or opinions to myself". To me it meant mind your own business which doesn't always work. And religiously I think work is a good thing, I think living within your means is a good thing and trying to be kind is a trait we should all work on.  At this point it doesn't seem to matter whether the Grand Canyon was created by God or Nature or the result of Science. Three weeks a celebration of lif...