What’s It Gonna Be?

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The Supreme Court ain’t so supreme, of late.

Maybe it has always benefited from a certain undeserved mystique- its members aren’t gods, after all, just human beings tasked with important work. Justices over the years have produced many landmark decisions seemingly based on a sincere and fair treatment of testimony and applicable law, even charting new ground from time to time, especially when it comes to human rights and bodily autonomy.

Lately, though, there seems to be some backsliding. More suspicion, more doubt, more finger pointing in the direction of a hand-picked conservative majority on a mission to, oh, I don’t know, tighten things up, bring us back to a “better” place that pleases straight, white Christians everywhere.

In the midst of the Trump mess, the court seems to not want to stick its neck out and abide by the 14th Amendment provision of forbidding insurrectionists from running for office. Though he hasn’t been accused yet, many know what Trump did and who and what he really is, and how dangerous he has become.

So maybe it comes down to how closely the court adheres to the letter of the law, along with its efforts to reel in the temptation to react to certain public sentiment, and to what many are seeing with their own eyes: Trump running roughshod over, and even making a mockery of certain norms that have long served as guardrails.

Sometimes it looks like nothing can be done to make him go away.

Clean, and Well-lighted

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Daily writing prompt
Write about your dream home.
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The dream hasn’t changed much since I wrote about this last year. My dream home would be modest by most standards, but well-conceived and functional. Energy-wise, it would draw upon geothermal heating and cooling and solar panels, with a gas fireplace for added warmth and a certain redundancy. The house would be laid out in a thoughtful manner, with a large kitchen, sunken living room with ample seating, a baby grand piano, a dining area with seating for 14. Three or four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a sewing room, a finished basement with a TV/audio room. There would be an attached woodshop, maybe an acre and a half to two acres of well-drained land, mostly level, on high ground. Plenty of room for a patio and pergola, space for outdoor activities, a couple of large shade trees and lots of garden space, along with a bit of grass to mow.

Unlikely to ever happen, but fun to think about. I guess that’s what makes it a dream home.

What’s Going On?

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The Nancy Guthrie disappearance must feel like a godsend to the Trump administration. Any media frenzy not feeding on the Epstein files or some other nefarious activity means welcome distraction they for once didn’t generate (unless they did). It conveniently takes eyes off of their election interference efforts, among other things, as we head to the midterms later this year.

The Guthrie case itself has been a strange one, with a paucity of information, a certain confusion and almost a throwing up of hands at times. It makes me wonder if the FBI has lost its mojo trying to operate under the cloud of Donald Trump and the inexperience of Kash Patel.

Theories abound, strange video footage has materialized, and there’s been no proof that Ms. Guthrie is still alive. This seems like one of those cases headed toward some sort of sensational conclusion.

More Darkness

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Apparently, this administration does have a vision, albeit a dystopian one. I assume it’s the brainchild of Stephen Miller, but Trump must be OK with it. In any event, the bullshit avalanche keeps advancing.

It is heartening to see the pushback against use of massive storage facilities being turned into detention centers, i.e. prison camps—a network of camps across the country, millions being spent on these places that will turn into hell on earth for the people brought there as prisoners, with conditions so distasteful that the only escape becomes self-deportation.

What a horrible dilemma for people just wanting a place to call home.

Is it wearing on us as a nation yet—knowing that these facilities already exist and that there are plans to create many more of them? That we’ll be trying to carry on with our lives as we drive by these massive buildings full of people in limbo, being treated poorly, being forced to settle and return to the places from which they were trying to escape?

Who decides to leave their country of origin and trek to America, unless they have good reason for doing so? I realize immigration is a massively complicated issue, and not everyone who comes across the border has good intentions, but the Trump administration tact is lazy and heartless, its own reveal of the character of the people running this government right now.

It’s easy to be mean, a lot harder to be thoughtful and measured in one’s reaction to human fear and suffering. Miller and others have to be aware of this, yet they have no problem rubbing salt in the wounds.

A Bit Lost

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Daily writing prompt
Are there any activities or hobbies you’ve outgrown or lost interest in over time?
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Church attendance comes to mind, and it’s more a matter of losing interest than outgrowing it. This has created an interesting dynamic, because a part of me misses the ritual and a certain discipline.

But something else has emerged, which is characterized by doubt and fatigue. When we do attend somewhere, the liturgy and message are mostly uninspiring anymore, as if I’ve heard it all before, nothing changes, and its relevance is lost. Certain elements are timeless, but this origin story is relatively ancient, and in some respects hasn’t aged well.

It didn’t help to read Sapiens.

Indulgence

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Daily writing prompt
What’s your favorite candy?
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Candy is not often part of the diet anymore, but if there’s any dark chocolate around, I’d enjoy a piece of that. On occasion, Aldi will carry a package of delights that look like dark chocolate Pringles with Rice Krispie-like crunchy bits mixed in. So good.

Sweet Tarts are a distant second.

Olympic Diversion

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The people can make distinctions. They cheered the American athletes but booed J.D. Vance. That’s the way it should be, because he’s the villain. He’s the one who has decided to bide his time, play the lackey until Trump either keels over or gets impeached (one can always hope).

He stands in the VIP boxes with his wife—who, one must suspect, has made her own deals with the devil—and smiles as if all is forgotten, as if the administration he’s part of hasn’t revealed itself to be the legion of doom, the thorn in the world’s side.

Here’s to an entertaining two weeks in Italy, a welcome break from the daily stupidity and mayhem.

We best keep an eye on what’s going on back home, though.

Come On, Sun

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Daily writing prompt
Do you need a break? From what?
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Funny you should ask.

Yes, from winter. We’ve actually had one this time around, and it’s getting old. Especially the wind, which just adds insult to injury, rubs salt in the wound. Fifty years ago, I would have made lemonade, but not anymore.

I’m thankful for electricity and a warm place out of the elements. And for diamond art, my new vice.

Lifesaver

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Daily writing prompt
The most important invention in your lifetime is…
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I asked one of the AI bots about consequential inventions since 1954, and its first response had technological innovations at the top of the list– the more widespread use of transistors, integrated circuits, and the laser were the top 3, in order.

I then asked where the polio vaccine fit, and it placed third in a revised list, behind the transistor and IC. The polio vaccine was the first thing to come to mind, though I realize it was the nature of my first question that left it out entirely in the first list generated.

In one sense, transistors and integrated circuits deserve their place at the top of a list of important inventions, but the polio vaccine, to me, is in a class by itself.

Nothing Fancy

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Daily writing prompt
Describe your most ideal day from beginning to end.
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Get up at 5, pour myself some cold brew, come downstairs and write a boffo blog post that receives 100 likes, make breakfast, clean up, get a workout in at the Y, come home and take a shower, get dressed, and then engage in some fruitful, satisfying woodturning project that will provide a bit of income. There would be time, if conditions are good, for a walk with my wife, maybe a serendipitous encounter with an eagle or something that makes me glad that, for once, I decided to take my camera with me. We’d top off the day with supper out at a go-to local eating establishment, then come home and settle in with a bowl of popcorn and the latest episode of a favorite TV show. Bed by 10, if not before.

Observations

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Daily writing prompt
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
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Certain realities dawn– that if altruism and caring are “woke,” then so be it; that self-improvement, like so much else, has become cliché and marketable, yolo…; that there is often a price to be paid for standing up to injustice, that there will always be room for gratitude and humility, that our earthly existence is relatively short and no one has an endless amount of time in which to grow wiser, or to stay still long enough to listen, or travel and educate oneself or otherwise experience this amazing life– amazing if you’re lucky enough to be born into a stable, nurturing family and given opportunities to blossom and grow along the way.

And since it is difficult to ignore the elephant in the room, I will offer that the human species is slow to evolve beyond tribalism and pecking orders and privilege and a drive for self-preservation and dominance. It seems there will be, for the foreseeable future, a relative handful of lazy, fearful, cold-hearted monsters drunk on power, who take a dim view of humanity, who keep a foot on the throat of self-determination, who utilize their own brokenness as fuel, who think it’s their way or the highway and think nothing of invoking the name of God and inflicting immense pain and suffering in the name of some cockamamie “vision” or because they have a death grip on the past.

I’ve grown skeptical of how God fits into all this.