Category: Society

Play Ball!

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Baseball Season Has Begun. Hooray! Time For A Tea Ceremony

Not a fan? Read On – I Bet You Will Like This

Let’s Take A Short Break From Politics

This is one of my favorite times of year, the start of the baseball season. Everyone is a World Series contender at this point. Spring training gave some hints, but unlike sports like football, the baseball season is long, with something over 160 games for each team to rise to the occasion. A momentary burst of excellence will not cut it. You have to be in it consistently for the long haul to take the prize in baseball.

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Two “Teams” To Get America Right

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One for Action, One for Resources. Both to Help America

Shades of 1992

Anyone remember 1992? A small state governor named Bill Clinton surprised a lot of people that year. Having won a bruising primaries battle, he became the Democratic Presidential nominee, and he won. A lot of factors were at work in that election, but one cornerstone was that Clinton set himself up as a “New Democrat,” focusing on centrist politics connected with Democratic values, inclusiveness, and good governance. The theme scratched an itch in America and the man won.

He was surely helped by the fact that George Bush was not that great a campaigner and Ross Perot picked up a lot of votes.

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A Special Edition for Agents of Reason

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The news is filled everyday with thousands more firings of government employees. The process clearly has zero connections to efficiency or effectiveness. There is no analysis underlying any of this – just a race to see how many people they can fire before sanity reasserts itself. Today a federal judge said all this was illegal and directed these people be brought back to work. Time will tell what happens next.

But in the meantime, let’s take a moment and look beyond a failed process, beyond the impact on government and our country. Let’s look at one person’s story about what it is like to be caught in this meat grinder disguised as policy.

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A Little Reading Might Help

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Recommended Reading to Help Understand, Resist, Rebuild

First, A Little Detour

Before we begin our main discussion, I wanted to share a separate thought with you. Many of us will remember that a lot of people enjoy playing the game of determining what is someone’s “spirit animal.” I sort of gave that up when I told people I thought theirs might be a sloth or a skunk, and they did not take it well. But over the past few days, I think we can agree on Trump’s spirit animal. I think it is the common house cat.

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WHAT YOU GET WHEN ONE ISSUE GROUPS PUT UNQUALIFIED PEOPLE IN CHARGE

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The Musk Mess Is Epically Destructive – And Completely Predictable

The Musk & Company Cuts

People are, at different paces and levels of attention, are beginning to figure out that the chainsaw cuts in government generated by DOGE are about as ineffective – and stupid – as one could imagine. Even people who really would like to see large government cuts are slowly but surely figuring out none of this works as it is being done.

A couple of framing thoughts to keep in mind.

First, the idea of looking for opportunities to increase government efficiency and to save costs is never a bad idea.

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“I Love America”

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That Phrase Can Mean Two Very Different Things

A Phrase That Caught My Eye

The Atlantic, long standing, in my view, as America’s best publication, recently did an edition focused on Black history in America. It was riveting and thought provoking on many levels, but one phrase in particular kept my brain whirling for quite a long time:

One can tell a great deal about a country by what it chooses to remember: by what graces the walls of its museums, by what monuments are venerated, and by what parts of its history are embraced.

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In Case You Missed It

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Cruelty Is Not A Byproduct – It’s The Point

Government by Trump

As has been noted widely, there is a lot of chaos and confusion around government a la Trump. That is not surprising. We saw that last time and expected even more of all that on this round. Part of that is Trump’s nature – he thrives on conflict, anger, resentment, and confusion. Part of that is strategy – keeping people confused and feeling overwhelmed gives team Trump more maneuvering room to get done what they hope to accomplish.

Two other pillars of this bunch are cruelty and destruction.

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What If History Was Changed?

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How Might a Few Changes Affect the World?

Not a New Idea

The idea of history coming out differently at some key point, and the changes that could happen as a result, are not exactly new ideas. This play on variants has a long history among historians and among fiction writers. Still, always a fun and perhaps useful line of thought to pursue.

Looking at such scenarios makes one think about how things, people, and events are so intricately involved in real life. Any change, even a small one or a single incident, could have monumental effects.

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Well, Here We Are

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 A Time of Infamy Began at Noon Yesterday

The Irony of January 20

Ironic, isn’t it? On the single day yesterday of January 20 we celebrated the life and work of a man dedicated to service and hope, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ; continued an official period of mourning the death of a president who personified service and morality; and on the same day inaugurated an individual who is the very opposite of character, caring, and competence. What a day. That Trump sniveled about flags being at half-mast in honor of someone besides himself says it all.

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Get Used to Weird Weather

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Mother Nature is Offering Lessons

Climate Change

Remarkable would be the kindest word one could use to describe a reaction to those who still, incredibly, do not accept the reality of climate change. This is perhaps the largest example of willful ignorance in our time. The science is overwhelming and confirmatory in every sector of study and analysis.

We were warned some time ago that when the average global temperature (admittedly, a difficult thing to measure) rose by more than 1.5 degrees, there would be hell to pay. A growing body of evidence it cited that we have now crossed that line and sure enough,

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