Take a Deep Breath and Exhale

In an ordinary year, I probably would not even notice much of the hoopla around the Presidential Inauguration. But then – I have to admit that I spent most of yesterday watching the inauguration events. At the end of the day, I felt like I had taken a deep breath—and exhaled slowly—at last. After the … Continue reading Take a Deep Breath and Exhale

I Am That 74-Year-Old Grandmother

Yesterday’s ‘Questionable Statements about the Corona Virus’ award goes to Florida’s Governor DeSantis who said this: "If you're a 22-year-old working in food services, let's say at a supermarket, you would have preference over a 74-year-old grandmother. I don't think that that is the direction that we want to go." DeSantis wants Florida to ignore … Continue reading I Am That 74-Year-Old Grandmother

The Small Stuff

Some mornings it's the small stuff in the news that makes me crazy. President Trump has achieved his goal of destroying another environmental standard created in the prior administration. In a world where 790 million people do not have access to clean water, it's nice to know that some people will be able to wash … Continue reading The Small Stuff

Bloody Sunday

It should feel like a sad morning when we lose two Medal of Freedom award recipients - two of the many great people who gave their blood to make our country more like the home I want it to be. Rep. John Robert Lewis and Rev. Cordy Tindell Vivian both walked across that bridge in … Continue reading Bloody Sunday

Thoughts and Prayers

To all the politicians out there who are sending their thoughts and prayers in light of the latest mass slaughter of our nation's children, may I remind you that, while you may pray anytime you want in this country, as many of us are doing right now, we didn't send you to Washington to pray … Continue reading Thoughts and Prayers

Immigration & (IL)logic

I have days when I feel thoroughly confused by the rhetoric and fears thrown around on the subject of immigration. I hear that we need to reduce immigration to the US because immigrants take the good jobs away from Americans. So we should disallow highly educated immigrants who are skilled and qualified to fill the … Continue reading Immigration & (IL)logic

Don’t Mess with My History

Do we really need to remove the monuments honoring confederate "heroes?" Or do we need to use them to illuminate our history as it actually was, in a search for truth and understanding of our real past? President Trump has claimed that removing these statues represents the changing of history. But of course you can't change … Continue reading Don’t Mess with My History

What I have to say about that …

My World This Morning

There’s something particularly jarring about opening your computer in the morning and seeing a screen displaying what appears to be a man bound and tied with rope being thrown into a river while an angry crowd looks on. It’s made more jarring by the juxtaposition of this image with an ad for an “essential” nonstick pan.

It turns out that the man is actually a colonial slave trader statue which has been torn down in the UK. The fact that the event occurred in another country makes it feel even more jarring. The protests against police brutality are worldwide. I hear “this time things must change,” and try to be hopeful. We’ve heard these phrases too many times before.

Is the Covid-19 pandemic any less of a threat now that it was when the world closed down three months ago? The death toll worldwide has passed 400,000. Businesses are opening up and people are excited to get “back to their lives.” The threat feels greater than before, as people pretend that it is gone, going out to dinner, to the gym, to crowded protests. I fear that the number of asymptomatic people out there thinking they’re safe has increased dramatically while all of this goes on. They’re not feeling sick. And they don’t believe that they can pass the virus to other people.