4.10.2025 – because you’ve got to

because you’ve got to
a desperate solution
that was imperfect

Adapted from the article, The Masters: A Gesundheit Unlike Any Other By Alan Blinder where writes:

Greg Norman, who spent 331 weeks as the world’s top-ranked player, recalled last month that he would load up on anti-allergy medicines. It was, he said, a desperate solution that was decidedly imperfect.

“That doesn’t really make you feel great either,” said Mr. Norman, who had three runner-up finishes at the Masters and twice won the British Open. “You do it because you’ve got to, really.

Moving to the south, no one told me.

Moving to the south, no one warned me.

Moving to the south, I had no idea.

Springtime came.

Springtime came and the air filled with green dust.

In my eyes.

In my throat.

In my nose.

On me.

On my car.

I have this strong memory of using my laptop with the window open to let in the warm spring air and watch in … horror … as the electro static nature of my monitor drew the dust out of the air to cover it surface.

I wiped and wiped and wiped and the screen got darker and darker.

This, I realized, is inside.

This, I realized is in my lungs.

Then I moved further south.

Atlanta is now ‘Up North’.

And the springtime pollen season lasts longer.

I can’t breathe.

My eyes itch.

I feel cruddy.

Which is appropriate as down here its called ‘The Low Country Crud.’

It’s a way of life.

Nobody told me.

4.9.2025 – remember you can

remember you can
also commit injustice
by doing nothing

From the Mediations of Marcus Aurelius

According to Wikipedia … Meditations (Ta eis heauton, lit. ”Things Unto Himself”) is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy.

It is unlikely that Marcus Aurelius ever intended the writings to be published. The work has no official title, so “Meditations” is one of several titles commonly assigned to the collection. These writings take the form of quotations varying in length from one sentence to long paragraphs.

About Mr. Aurelius, Wikipedia says, “He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors and the last emperor of the Pax Romana, an age of relative peace, calm, and stability for the Roman Empire lasting from 27 BC to 180 AD.”

The last of the rules known as the Five Good Emporers.

The last emperor of the Pax Romana.

The last …

Time to do something.

But what?

ANYTHING!

I am reminded of the movie Patton, where George C. Scott, playing the title role addresses his soldiers about their role in fighting the Nazi Germany and why they were LUCKY to be with the Third Army.

The line goes …

Now, there’s one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it.

Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you, “What did you do in the great World War II?” — you won’t have to say, “Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana.”

April 19th, Patriots Day, Lexington and Concord … A Day of Protest.

Don’t miss it!

4.8.2025 -economic view?

economic view?
the worst presidential
decision ever

Adapted from The Conversation between Gail Collins and Bret Stephens, Opinion columnists for the New York Times. They converse every week.

Gail Collins: OK, Bret, I know you can’t tell the future, but give me a prediction. Will President Trump’s tariffs go down as one of the 100 worst decisions in presidential history? 50? 10?

Bret Stephens: As an economic matter, possibly the worst presidential decision ever. Say what you will about Herbert Hoover, but he was an honorable public servant who didn’t have the benefit of hindsight when he signed the Smoot-Hawley tariff into law in 1930. As a foreign policy matter, it’s at least in the top five worst. It’ll be a few months before we see the full consequences in terms of reciprocal tariffs, broken alliances, destroyed trust and an America that has dethroned itself from global economic leadership. And don’t be surprised if it leads to war, as global economic upheavals often do.

Other than that, Gail, it was a great week. Like millions of other Americans, I barely noticed losing a big chunk of my net worth. Can’t wait for all the price increases to kick in.

I have to the point out that Mr. Stephens is a conservative and one time republican and someone who tries to see the best in anything the current president tries to do.

4.7.2025 – no authority

no authority
justification or grounds
facts say otherwise

In the matter of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, District Judge Paula Xinis wrote:

“As defendants acknowledge [United States Dept of Justice though the person who had the guts to acknowledged this has been put on leave], they had no legal authority to arrest him, no justification to detain him, and no grounds to send him to El Salvador — let alone deliver him into one of the most dangerous prisons in the Western Hemisphere,” Xinis wrote.

She said it was “eye-popping” that the government had argued that it could not be forced to bring Abrego Garcia back because he is no longer in U.S. custody.

“They do indeed cling to the stunning proposition that they can forcibly remove any person — migrant and U.S. citizen alike —to prisons outside the United States, and then baldly assert they have no way to effectuate return because they are no longer the ‘custodian,’ and the Court thus lacks jurisdiction,” Xinis wrote. “As a practical matter, the facts say otherwise.”

I should point out that House Speaker Mike Johnson has declared, “We in the Republican Party are the law-and-order team. We always have been, and we always will be, the advocates for the rule of law.”

Mr. Speaker … facts say otherwise.

Someone needs to refresh their memory.

See more Thurber Drawings at formuggsandrex

4.6.2025 – Trump is taking this

Trump is taking this
economy in different
direction … YUP!

Vice-President JD Vance said: “We’ve seen closing factories, we’ve seen rising inflation. We’ve seen the cost of housing so high that most Americans can’t afford to buy a home right now,” Vance said. “President Trump is taking this economy in a different direction.”

In the article, Americans braced for era of uncertainty as Trump doubles down on tariffs

Again, Vance said, “Vance said. “President Trump is taking this economy in a different direction.””

Minister for Administrative Affairs, Jim Hacker once said, “When a country is going downhill it is time for someone to get into the driving seat, put his foot on the accelerator.”

Mr. Hacker is the feller who also said, “Well yes, of course, I was just about to give it to you, if I may. Yes as I said I’m glad you asked me that question because it’s a question that a lot of people are asking, and quite so, because a lot of people want to know the answer to it. And let’s be quite clear about this without beating about the bush the plain fact of the matter is that it is a very important question indeed and people have a right to know.”