We can't even treat our own species well. What make us think we can muster compassion for another? This isn't compassion fatigue, it's a fundamental breakdown in empathy. Hell, even sympathy has broken down. I don't think we can get one house in order until fix the other.

The beach. It feels like we are drawn to it.

I am. We are.

The vastness of the ocean puts me in my place; that I exist, but am only a very small part of this grander thing. The ocean humbles you if you have a soul.

It looks like I've passed the test. One more day until we return to “real life.”

That I don't want to be in, but here we are.

For me, I've noticed that it doesn't feel so much like a fight, rather it's doing what the doctors say, because what's the alternative? Not exactly passive, but also, not as active as one would like it to be, right? Yet, the “fight” metaphor is a way of looking at dealing with a shitty situation.

Liver cancer survivor (so far, fingers-crossed nine months from diagnosis), and your statement about needing cancer care for the rest of your life really resonates with me, sadly. Luckily our teacher union negotiated good health care and I got EXTREMELY lucky. I wish you the best going forward.

If we don't catch ‘em young, getting them to change behavior, while not impossible, becomes exponentially harder. TLDR: A boy who is taught empathy and has positive male role models as well as women become better men. This shouldn't be controversial.

Boys need more concrete and available examples of positivity so that they can behave in an authentic, yet non destructive way. Boys bad behavior is, in my opinion, a result of a disconnect between emotion management and societal expectations/what they are allowed to get away with.

I read it and impressed with his assertion that men need to be better represented in caring professions. Like primary and secondary teaching. I am a high school art teacher, and I hope to create examples of positive masculinity where boys can creatively and non-destructively express their emotions.

What is your take on Richard V. Reeves’ book “Of Boys and Men: Why the Modern Male Is Struggling, Why It Matters, and What to Do about It.”?

I have thoughts, but I’d much rather hear what you have to say if you’re familiar with the work and his viewpoint.

The oncologist said that my liver tumor shrunk again after radiation therapy and a scan just this week showed they could only see necrotic (dead) tissue, no living cancer.

Oregon bill to ban student cellphone use in schools advances in Legislature By Evan Watson, KGW SALEM, Ore. (KGW) -- Oregon has moved one step closer to banning students from using cellphones at school after a committee advanced a bill to the full House of Representatives. Th...

Oh Lord, please. Could we also fine parents who tell their kids they don't have to follow rules? Kthanksbye!!!

This is why people think Donald Trump might be about to declare martial law A veteran Democratic strategist, James Carville, has warned Americans that president Donald Trump might try to declare martial law.

Here is another viewpoint.

I write about treatment, genetic testing and hope.

Queen to C-8, Checkmate

It’s not always cancer. I mean, you can be a bit of a one-trick pony if you only talk about the thing that’s dominating your life.

Above this writing is a (hopefully animated) gif of a chess game that I played yesterday. Since I lost my dad at the beginning of 2014, my online chess partner has…

Normally I seem to have been posting about education, politics, cool stuff and, <sigh> my cancer. But in this situation, I'm posting about the fact that I have, for the first time in many months beaten a new bot on chess.com. "Olga" is rated at 1900. If the animation doesn't start, click on the pic.

'Banal and hollow': Why the quaint paintings of Thomas Kinkade divided the US Beloved by many, despised by others, Thomas Kinkade's quaint rustic scenes and his wholesome image belied a dark and tortured story that contrasts with his 'sugary' artworks.

“Today we would think they had been produced by AI, designed as if by algorithm to a certain formula” – Charlotte Mullins

I may have taken the "wrong lesson" from my cancer journey.

Let me explain:

Hollywood expects a story arc for people who go through cancer. Unfortunately, the story arc is usually about the person who is the family member of/in love with/long-term friend of the person suffering the cancer....

What Kids Are Actually Using Phones for in School Is So Pathetic That We May Need to Take a Quick Walk for Mental Health Purposes The main opponents to campaigns seeking bans on cell phones in schools are not the kids themselves, but their parents.

Ignore the clickbaity headline. Spoiler: it's parents checking in on kids all day long. Unless your kid has some kind of medical condition, it's a YOU problem. Don't trust school? Homeschool, or get some therapy for YOUR issues. Don't ruin your kid's experience because you're insecure...

Nearly Half of Teachers Cite Lack of Family Prioritization of Academics as Top Cause for Learning Gaps - Study.com by Aashna Ramchandani, Sherian Batallones and Alina Lehtinen-Vela

Well, duh. If you don't come to school prepared, you're at a disadvantage.

Mahmoud Khalil, Viewed From the Right MAGA should oppose the arrest and deportation of the pro-Palestinian activist.

Wow! I’m shocked that this author has it almost entirely correct.

The Volunteer Data Hoarders Resisting Trump’s Purge Can librarians and guerrilla archivists save the country’s files from DOGE?

It looks like Fahrenheit 451 is relevant again.

The Meager Agenda of Abundance Liberals | Washington Monthly What the Abundance Liberals and the Democratic Party’s most buzzed-about policy movement get right—and wrong.

It turns out that nuance and understanding of the actual needs of the populace will better serve liberal causes.

The False Abundance of Social Media

Well, of course this was going to be the first post for me. I used to be on Facebook. Many, MANY of you still are. And that's cool. I would still be on Facebook if I had a choice. A lot of people were starting to do the "I'm ditching Facebook and going to…

There are voltage stepdown converters for not to much money available. Right now on that site which is named after a river in Brazil.

I was able to “appeal” that decision, but there’s never a real person you can talk to. A company’s AI can arbitrarily take away all of my writing for 16 years without letting me at least download it?

Are you kidding me? Ugh!!!

I made a joke on Facebook about a pharmaceutical that I was being administered as part of my CANCER treatment. Two days later, my account was suspended.