Homer

I want 

to see

“The Odyssey”,

the latest

Nolan

dark knight

movie,

as I’m 

intrigued

by the

“Oppenheimer”

theory

that this is

relatively

similar

to the 

familiar

journeys

of Batman

and Oppie,

contemplating

devastating

a city,

whether

Gotham,

or Nagasaki,

or Troy.

Our coy

hero,

will go

far

to destroy

the enemy

and then

get lost

in his

head

after 

he lead

a successful

mission.

Racked

with guilt

over what

he built,

the damage

that followed

hollowed

him 

out.

And then

there’s

Joyce’s

choices

for 

Ulysses,

who does 

not sail

the high

seas,

but whose

sojourn

within

Dublin

is a modern

interpretation

of Homer’s

epic poem

of going

home.

Relationships,

wandering,

battles,

and pondering,

Odysseus,

the original

Homeric

heroic

individual,

is the prime

example

of what

Joseph Campbell

called,

“The Hero

With 

A Thousand

Faces”.

With Batman-

“The Dark Knight”,

“Oppenheimer”,

and now

“The Odyssey”,

Christopher Nolan

has provided

a sort of 

trilogy;

well, 3

movies

including

one biopic

that seems

to stick

to the script

about

a man who

makes us

ask,

“Who is

a hero?”

In the 

modern 

sensibility,

the one 

who questions

and takes

responsibility,

no matter

how many

homes

he’s got.

Err Quality

With salad days

no longer

upon us

as fears

intensify

not just

from lettuce,

let us

consider

how to act

our age

of one 

disaster

after another,

ever threatening

food,

air,

and water.

Skies of orange

and smoke

are no joke

and occurring

more often

now.

How can

cuts 

in government

effectively

prevent

these crises?

Fire fighting,

ever frightening,

is becoming

more than

seasonal.

It’s reasonable

to link

constant

crises

to larger 

opportunities.

Do we 

now live in

the Pyrocene?

And what

does that

mean?

Is this all

a warning

about global

warming?

Are we reassuring

ourselves

without insuring

ourselves

financially

or substantially

reckoning

with what

the series

of crises

is beckoning?

Rethinking

forest maintenance

certainly

makes sense

in order

to achieve

better balance.

How much

damage

is too much

for such

a planet

as ours?

The powers

that be

want to see

as much money

from each 

oil and tech

company

as possible

which results

in possibly

the stupidest

policy

gutting

thinkable.

There’s been

so much

progress 

in the private

sector

in green

technology,

but without

government

enforcement

of environmental

policy,

the intentional

destruction,

hardly

an error,

means

life is scarier

as a result.

The cost

of putting

out fires,

political

and literal,

is becoming

too great.

This 

climate

crisis

is 

upon us,

exacerbating

conditions

for deadly

lettuce,

much less,

endless

fire season

and other

disasters

that are

unnatural.

Please 

hold the powerful

to account

for this mounting

crisis.

Are you 

contacting

your legislator?

Are you giving

to a climate

nonprofit?

We can 

remedy

some,

and become

more 

adaptable,

but the less

we do

the more

intractable

it will be.

Miller’s Crossing

He gave 

the green 

light

to expedite

what might

be among

our most

shameful

policies.

With no

apologies,

the traffic

stops

continue

with a view

to a kill.

ICE agents

pick

immigrants

at traffic 

stops,

as per 

Steven Miller’s 

program.

Lacking

required

body cam,

or just

not turning

it on,

these agents

of the government

have managed

to kill

innocent

victims

of this

harassment.

Yet another

incident-

2 over

the last

week.

A brief pause

in the strategy

only to be

tragically

reimplemented

by only

this demented

administration,

because

halting immigration

at all costs

is the priority.

The policy

of traffic stops

was suspended

very briefly

before reinstating,

chiefly

for being

afraid 

of appearing

weak.

Miller’s fear

of immigrants

and Trump’s

and the rest

of his malcontents’

have crossed

all lines

of acceptability.

Citizens

want immigration

reform,

but not in 

its current

form.

We now

have a system

of immigration

that keeps

those

without

documentation 

deportable

and outside

protections

of labor

law.

Traditionally,

Republicans

have focused 

on security

(aka deportation),

and Dems

have focused

on

legalization

when taking

on immigration.

But these

policies

should not

compete;

they

could meet

at an intersection.

What have

been

competing

policies

are each

and both 

necessities.

The best

direction

would be

leading

to legalization

WITH

a better,

preferably 

nonviolent,

security

enforcement.

James Talarico,

a Dem senate

candidate

from

Texas,

likes to say

what sounds

like progress,

“Our border

should be

like a front 

porch-

it should have

a welcome

mat

out front

and a lock

on the door.”

A community

living in

uncertainty

is certainly

in fear.

It’s clear 

that fear

is the object

of Miller’s

project,

as he projects

the threat

upon 

not-yet

documented

immigrants.

So ICE
is set

to impose

the threat

and get

those 

they suspect,

where

roads

intersect

at a red

light.

MIller

wanted

crossing

the border

to be

an issue

of law 

and order

if it only

means

security

to satisfy

his insecurity

that this

country

is overtaken

by those 

who are

liminal

and therefore

criminal.

6 deaths

“accidental”,

or for

alleged

self defense

against

defenseless

drivers

committing

no offense

in those 

moments

beyond

documents

in question,

as the

traffic stops

continue

at Miller’s

crossing.

A Brief Illness

Wilson’s stroke,

FDR’s legs,

Kennedy’s back,

Reagan’s gunshots

and then

his dementia,

Bader-GInsberg’s cancer,

Trump’s COVID,

Feinstein’s capacity,

Biden’s capacity,

Fetterman’s stroke,

Kean’s depression,

McConnell’s…..?

Would it 

kill us

to know

about 

each illness

that no

one

wants to

admit?

Bit by bit

details will

flow

until we know

what was.

Because

health

equals stealth

with maximum

security,

privacy

will always

be first.

But the thirst

to know

if those 

elected

will show

up 

for work

tomorrow

or in 

a week

or so,

is so elemental

and the work

consequential,

that the obfuscation

and/or lies

flies

in the face

of acceptability.

Of course,

the probability

of opposition

is why such

a position

of denial

or just silence

is the preference

for the powerful.

Just 

status quo,

even though

we all know

something

is very wrong.

And then

the news

of a senator’s

passing

unexpectedly,

at least

it seemed

to be

when I read

that Lindsey

Graham

died suddenly

from “a brief

illness”.

The less

revealed,

the more

concealed,

the greater

the concern.

We always

learn

that

transparency

is best,

but continue

to test

the wisdom

when power

is at stake.

Maybe we

make 

the mistake

of wanting

politicians’

admissions,

when decisions

are made

to evade

which arouse

suspicions

about what

omissions

are kept

from the public.

When an official

gets sick

or dies

suddenly,

more than

curiosity

seems

to be

appropriate.

A brief illness

is less

than 

an unknown;

it indicates

knowledge

of cause.

And if the pause

in information

is because 

of national

security,

it seems 

to me,

that’s understandable.

Investigating

cause of death

indicates 

a question,

while 

“a sudden, brief

illness”

is an intentional

non-mention;

yet another

suspension

of truth.

We have a

nondisclosure 

disagreement

in government,

when 

an appointment,

however

temporary,

should be

federal protocol.

We may not

know all,

but some

would be 

welcome

before 

more damage

is done.

We claim

to be

an open

and free

society.

That is the 

country

that Lindsey

Graham

served

and that 

served

him.

We can’t let

that die

with him.

Maine Drag

Guilty

until proven

innocent

against 

the recent

rape charge,

an issue

so large

it trumps

a Nazi

tattoo,

the guy

who would

defy

old categories

and deny

old stories

or try

to eschew

what he knew

was problematic,

was a “new”

democrat

who wasn’t

an aristocrat,

but an oysterman

everyman,

if every man

were accused

of rape

and had a 

Nazi

tattoo.

The senate

race

in Maine

has been

an insane

drain

on Dems

everywhere

who care

about

how to 

gain

a majority.

The midterm

priority

to return

to accountability

was weirdly

accommodated

when Platner

was nominated,

as he won

as an outsider.

Brash

and progressive,

if not transgressive,

he’d upend

the successive

terms

of Susan Collins.

But Platner

won’t be

Maine’s

Democrat

nominee

even if he

were innocent.

Now the race

is a drag

causing 

confidence

lag

in the ability

to find

a good 

candidate

at this late

date.

A late

update 

happened

not long before-

in 2024-

and look

how that

election

ended.

There 

is no ideal

candidate,

but to bet

on the base

instincts

not only

stinks,

but drags

Maine

and

the whole

country

down.

Even W,

son-of-a

Bush,

was a push-

over.

Wanting

a beer

with a candidate

is inadequate

to governance.

Substance

should count

an inordinate

amount,

not one’s bank 

account.

Wanting

an outsider

taunting

the system

is wisdom

not always

true.

Who meets

the standard

is answered

by history.

Victory

delivery

should be

considered

carefully,

because

then 

the term

must 

be served.

What must be

preserved

can’t be

dragged

through

the mud.

Just look

at that 

Maine stud,

Graham Platner.

Happy Birthday to US

The labor

was intensive;

the birth,

expensive,

and everyone

celebrated

what the fathers

created.

(But actually,

necessity

is the mother

of invention!)

A declaration

of independence

from the king

would bring

forth

on the fourth

of July, 1776

an evolution

of politics

from the critics

of monarchy,

with a vision

of democracy

that somehow

included

people

as property

for almost

another

century.

But the muscle

memory

of and for

opportunity

has guided

the trajectory

of this 

then new

country,

founded,

and now

hounded,

by old men.

When was 

America

just a 

replica

of her

ideal?

Electing a

president

set a precedent

for self government,

but how 

to effectuate

is still 

a debate.

What makes

America great

isn’t innate

or fate.

It’s the pursuit

not just

of happiness

but of 

the less

obvious

equality

of every

body;

even the ones

who look different 

from you

and

with whom

you disagree

(or worse).

The curse

of freedom

is over

abundance;

tolerance

of bigotry,

and over

reliance

on individuality.

The miracle

of the American

ideal

is made real

every day

while

also being

contradicted.

We may be

conflicted

over 

what seems

inflicted,

depicted

incessantly

on our screens.

But tomorrow

we’ll all

face 

the sky

as fireworks

fly,

like celestial

candles

on our

birthday 

cake.

What gifts

will you 

give?

Or will

you just

take?

Do you

expect

party

favors?

On our

best

behaviors,

we’ll

make sure

we’ll

endure

for

another 250

and more.

Happy Birthday

to US. 

The New Colossus

I just returned

from

the land

of the Golem,

(a sort of 

Frankenstein,

that predates

the Shelley

tale),

where 

the Soviet

and Nazi

lost to

democracy,

and memory

is preserved

not erased.

The Golem

of medieval

fantasy

was initially

created

as a magical

protector.

It (he)

was large

and clumsy,

slow-witted,

and soulless;

immune

to conventional

weapons

or pain.

(Sound familiar?)

It would become

eventual

that this 

folk hero

would grow

fearsome

and violent,

which meant

its destruction;

a lesson

we keep

needing

to learn.

We tend

to yearn

for 

a protector

and champion:

strong-

even masculine-

forgetting

that subletting

power

weakens

us.

“The New Colossus”,

by Emma Lazarus,

was the poem

befitting

Lady Liberty.

The Mother

of Exiles

whose torch

is a beacon

of light

for the weary-

quite

a contrast

to the dreary

giant man.

Trump is a

hulking,

clumsy,

dimwitted,

soulless

(faux)

protector,

whose power’s

run

amok

with endless

luck;

a new colossus

for us

in the worst

way.

But for America’s

semi-

quincentennial

birthday,

I say,

remember

anew

“The New

Colossus”:

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”

as us.

Our strengths

are not

artificial intelligence

(though with regulation,

such sensation

could be transformational).

By 250,

we

need to

grow up!

The New Colossus

is not this monstrous

idiot.

It’s the generous,

creative spirit

that is 

inspired by

and of 

liberty;

not irresponsibility,

but human

dignity,

integrity,

and decency,

with liberty,

and justice

for all.

Your Friends and Neighbors

Watching

the show

of 

the title

above,

is frustrating

for me.

It should be

entertaining,

but it seems

like it’s

claiming

to be

more

than it is.

Another series 

streaming

about seemingly

endless

wealth

and beauty

in a particular

community

of exclusivity

where 

under

the surface

lurks

insecurity

and too many

jerks.

Did I mention

that it’s mostly

white,

but for

a few tokens:

a wealthy

Korean

family,

a black retired 

basketball player,

and a 

latina

maid?

The conceit

is the deceit

not only

of the “friends”

but of 

Jon Hamm’s

Andy Cooper-

“Coop”

who chooses

to stoop

to becoming

a thief

for relief

after being 

fired

from his

hedge fund.

While the rest

are mired

in superficiality

he knows

the reality-

that with such

abundance

their material

redundance

means

he can steal

Hermes

and Cartier

for a big

pay day,

while the friends’

and neighbors’

lives 

remain

extravagant.

The cast 

is good,

and Hamm

is great,

but the show

lacks

greatly.

Beyond

the obvious

obliviousness

of the wealthiest,

the least

pretentious

or contentious

one,

a loving father

and a loving

son,

(and ex-husband),

is still

a thief.

The implicit

social 

commentary

is as 

conspicuous

as the anxiety

and consumer

spending

consuming

our society,

but more

subtly,

is the sad

state

of our social

ties

and how

we’re all

being robbed

before 

our eyes.

He’s no

Mad Man,

or Landman,

and I’ll still 

watch

because…

Jon Hamm!

But the show

has to go

deeper

than its

gorgeous

face.

Not unlike

our politics,

a mix

of expensive,

incomprehensive,

and meh,

we’re uninspired

by the tired

grind,

while 

being 

robbed

blind

from behind

the scenes

of what seems

to be 

less and less

the land

of opportunity,

and less

and less

a community

of friends

and neighbors,

much less,

united

states.

Good Looking

Looking 

for the good

should

be obviously

easy,

but seeing 

clearly

comes

with difficulty.

Looking good

could

be

a secondary

priority

in this society,

if only

we

were true

to

individuality

without

ego.

I know

it’s ridiculous,

but our

conspicuous

show

of identity,

like a human

theory

of relativity

except

compulsively,

aggressively,

competitively

being showy

of one’s

type

through

affinity

is definitely

not a good

look.

Take a good 

look

at how we’ve

devolved

from a society

prizing

individuality,

(Did we

really?

Or were we

always

just about

hyper individualism?)

to the ME

Generation,

and beyond

Gens XYZ-

all 

identity

driven.

We continue

to merge

church

and state,

and at this

rate,

the bible

will 

determine

which

tribal

affiliation

will drive

each state

of the republic.

Looking good

has been

the way 

society

created

bonds

and tensions,

but the extensions

have 

made a blame

game

of shaming

shame,

and fame

for anyone

who became

a name

in a video

frame

regardless

of content.

To a great

extent

we have

advanced

in this

enhanced

reality

of super

easy

access,

unless

you don’t

have success,

and therefore

are without

tools

sufficient

for the efficient

search

of artificial

intelligence;

hence,

your irrelevance

seems of great

importance

(which makes

no sense).

So we align

as a sign

of our

beliefs

and

commitments,

feigning

community.

Ideology

trumps

individuality

as currency

to looking

good.

Of course,

the eruption

of the disruption

era

is criteria

for progress;

that is,

unless

you’re

in Congress

in which 

case,

less is less.

But I digress….

You know

you’re

“good looking”—

I mean

looking

for the good,

not just

the sexy

novelty,

when

individuality

not tribal

affinity,

takes priority.

And individuality

is not

code

for disruptor

mode,

but for

that which

is unique-

even discreet-

our personhood

as a single,

capable

mammal

born

with inalienable

rights.

Be a good

looking

person

no matter

your 

physique 

or facial

structure.

Our vulture

culture

of devouring

is souring

and

narrowing.

America,

the beautiful,

good looking

one,

has run

from

facing

the truth.

Our destiny

should manifest

in our best

not the

easiest

or loudest,

as this test

has shown.

We have known

all along,

being good

looking—

should

be our priority,

even if it

isn’t sexy.

It’s About Time

All the time

Taking Time

Having Time

Bedtime

Dinnertime

Mealtime

What time is it?

What time do you have?

How much time do I have?

Do you have time?

Time of day

At times

Times like this

Doing time

Time out

First time

Last time

Against time

At a time

At one time

At the same time

In no time

Lose time

Out of time

Time flies

Time immemorial

Time of the month

Time out of mind

The time of one’s life

Time will tell

No time

Pass the time

Ahead of time

Time signature

The time being

Keep time.