You

Wisdom shatters in the cold reality of political turmoil. Politics goes beyond simply excusing dishonesty and dishonor. That parasitic profession encourages, embraces, and rewards depravity. Fueled by fear and by the lust for money and power (that is, greed), the mechanics of political control employs a scorched earth policy designed to murder decency by withholding oxygen and hope. Political opponents are more than philosophical foes. With razor-sharp rumors and lies, they slash at their adversaries’ arteries, attempting—at a minimum—to severely injure their  antagonists; hoping to inflict excruciatingly painful and deadly wounds. To the victor belong the spoils. More than just patronage, the spoils today refers to freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Wisdom is an obsolete concept, an obstacle to be overcome with a repetitive chant: The ends justify the means…the ends justify the means…the ends justify the means… Is it innocent naiveté or ignorant gullibility to believe in the value and dignity of wisdom—that archaic concept that once was an honorable objective?

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Facing your own mortality forces you to re-evaluate your priorities.

~ Paul Allen ~

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Trump and his minions got it right when they decided tapping into the pent-up rage and frustration of blue-collar voters would unleash a cult-like worship that could be manipulated to his benefit. The selection of Vance as his running mate provides evidence that the “working class” remains a key—perhaps the key—constituency in Trump’s way of thinking. And he’s no doubt right. The selection of a running mate for Kamala Harris can do for the Democrats what Trump and Vance have done/are doing for Republicans. Someone who would be seen by those same frustrated blue-collar voters as an ally and “one of us,” could make the difference in the November election. Who might that be, though? I wish I knew. Absent the need for mass popularity, my personal potential candidate might be Pete Buttigieg, Mark Kelly, Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear, or Gretchen Whitmer.  If I had greater faith in the American electorate, I would focus on either a two-female ticket or a female and gay male ticket. We desperately need change, strong leadership, and a powerful message that offers evidence that no one at any level of the socio-economic scale is either taken for granted or whose needs and desires are safe to ignore.

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I should have updated my will and my healthcare power of attorney long before now. With each visit to the oncologist—especially each one in which there’s no news about desirable progress (or its lack)—the importance of doing something about those documents becomes more pressing. Before this week is out, I will make an appointment to see an attorney about these matters. Maybe going on the record with this self-imposed deadline will give me the push I need to do something about it, instead of just talking about it.

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During the course of my life, some people who have long been important to me and to whom I think I once was important seem to have faded away. That reality, of course, is not unique to me. It happens to almost everyone at one time or another as the circumstances of multiple intertwined lives change. Thinking about what might have caused those relationships to have cooled or disappeared, it seems evident that decisions—either conscious and deliberate or circumstantial by default—must have been made that led to the situation. Regardless of how and why the relationships vanished, their absence leaves an emptiness that is not easy, or possible, to fill. Hmm. Just thoughts bouncing around in an otherwise empty head.

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I am thinking about YOU as I prepare to publish this post. All you need as evidence of that fact is to look at the words I just wrote.