Marlin O.

poem by Billy Collins: "Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant" I am glad I resisted the temptation, if it was a temptation when I was young, to write a poem about an old man eating alone at a corner table in a Chinese restaurant. I would have gotten it all wrong thinking: the poor bastard, not a friend in the world and with only a book for a companion. He'll probably pay the bill out of a change purse. So glad I waited all these decades to record how hot and sour the hot and sour soup is here at Chang's this afternoon and how cold the Chinese beer in a frosted glass. And my book -José Saramago's Blindness as it turns out — is so absorbing that I look up from its escalating horrors only when I am stunned by one of his gleaming sentences. And I should mention the light that falls through the big windows this time of day italicizing everything it touches — the plates and teapots, the immaculate tablecloths, as well as the soft brown hair of the waitress in the white blouse and short black skirt, the one who is smiling now as she bears a cup of rice and shredded beef with garlic to my favorite table in the corner.

Text meme on abstract-art background: "Disinformation is intentionally pandemic. Double-check all sources."

"Judgment is mine," saith the Lord. (Mormon 8:20) "Oh, Lord, let us help you with that," saith the congregation.

"Judgment is mine," saith the Lord. (Mormon 8:20) "Oh, Lord, let us help you with that," saith the congregation.

If They Call Me A Domestic Terrorist This morning, I stumbled across an amazing poem by a wonderful man named Michael F.

If They Call Me A Domestic Terrorist
open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

ICE: The Epitome of Toxic Masculinity Dr. Cynthia Miller-Idriss on harmful masculinities, violent extremism, and prevention tactics

I know what Mitzi Gaynor would've sung:
"I'm gonna wash those men right outta my hair…"

Text meme on abstract-art background: "Disinformation is intentionally pandemic. Double-check all sources."

The big Corp. CEOs have not only a lot of money, but also a lot of power. They must realize how bonkers he is, but are afraid to risk their domains by not bowing to him. Disgusting.
#ProudBlue

Goebbels was given a Nobel Prize medal in 1943 from Norwegian author Knut Hamsun, a Nobel laureate in Literature (1920), as a gesture of support for Nazi Germany, a symbolic act notable for its historical context, though it didn't transfer the award itself, as with Trump's Peace Prize.
#ProudBlue

Thousands to lose access to HIV drugs with new cuts An estimated 10,000 people are about to lose access to their HIV medication as the Florida Department of Health makes cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).

Catastrophe: Florida's Department of Health is stopping coverage for antivirals to 10,000 low-income people with HIV infection, blaming impending federal cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. 12.5% of Americans with HIV live in Florida.

Bull Connor's Ghost Theophilus Eugene Connor, better known by his nickname, Bull, was the Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham, Alabama—the head of the police—for the better part of three decades, until he was for...

Bull Connor's Ghost

“Eugene Connor, the Birmingham Police Commissioner who used dogs and fire hoses to break up civil rights demonstrations in the early nineteen‐sixties, died here today.”

Year's End 2025 A year of resistance

Year's End 2025

Smith requests that his closed-door deposition be made public, asserting that it presents proof "beyond a reasonable doubt" that Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. GOP is terrified.
#ProudBlue thehill.com/homenews/adm...

Photo: rainy street scene with a very young girl lifting a scrawny, undecorated Christmas tree that's twice as tall as she is.

"Bringing home the Christmas tree," 1946.
Photo by Monte Fresco.

Five Questions: Live with The Librarians A recording of my conversation with director & producer Kim Snyder

Five Questions: Live with The Librarians

Wag the Dog (1997) ⭐ 7.1 | Comedy, Drama 1h 37m | R

"Shortly before an election, a spin-doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a Presidential sex scandal." (IMDb)

On Saturday, We Bake Culture is upstream of politics.

On Saturday, We Bake

YouTube video by Democratic Wins Media BREAKING: Lt

www.youtube.com/shorts/Z4ckh...

What’s Eating Iowa? — H2O IQ Pulitzer Prize winner Art Cullen on the waters of Iowa… and noting the agricultural state may have the nation's second-highest cancer rates.

…and what's up with those cancer rates, Iowa?

Doctor Critical of Vaccines Quietly Appointed as C.D.C.’s Second in Command

Vaccine advice? Any other medical info that's on the political agenda? Please speak directly with a healthcare provider who you can trust and/or with legitimate patient advocacy groups.

New H3N2 flu strain hits the US: What to know The emergence of the H3N2 variant has led experts to warn that this flu season could be particularly severe.

You know, it's not a bad idea to check the mask supply.

What is Ethics? Ethics is based on well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.

“In any society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical. But standards of behavior in society can deviate from what is ethical. An entire society can become ethically corrupt. Nazi Germany is a good example of a morally corrupt society.”

—Markkula Center for Applied Ethics

Sorry, George Washington Would Not Have Hanged Them. This week, Donald Trump continues to use his claimed power to kill people who have received no due process, in international waters, based on his administration’s assertion that they are narcoterroris...

"George Washington would, most certainly, not have hung members of Congress for expressing their views. He would not have approved of what Donald Trump said today, or pretty much any day."

Sorry, George Washington Would Not Have Hanged Them.
open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

"Third Spaces"

We were reminiscing about childhood places where we'd pass a few hours with a cuppa (or soda) and newspaper (or comic), catching up, seeing folks (or not). Pinball, maybe; jukebox definitely.

Turns out they're good for us AND the community. Who knew?!

www.google.com/search?q=thi...