42 Comments

In keeping with the "eating" trope, I must mention that I subsist on all the sincere, humane, funny, timely, courageous, and refreshingly honest posts by you. You are an oracle of sorts, a voice that lifts us up in this surreal time of excruciating losses, loneliness, and a loss of existential moorings when we think about what's happening in our country. You persist, you speak truth to power, you fill us with hope, and even make us laugh. Somehow there is magic in this community of readers. It feels like home. Thank you.

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Thanks you. That is extraordinarily kind. I'm very grateful you're all here.

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I second that emotion.

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The only good thing coming out of Donny being prez is that we've come to know you, Mary!

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Thanks, Jayne!

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"Also, a quick disclaimer: If I am ever caught swallowing, ripping up, flushing, burning or otherwise destroying government documents it was not my intention to do so."

HAR!!!

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Me too. It's a deal.

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Scary how popular the right wing podcasts are.

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It is, indeed. The left really needs to figure out a way to challenge them.

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So, what do the statistics tell us? The vast majority of Americans don't spend their time listening to podcasts, and it's just the same zombified disaffected minority that moves from Fox hate-mongers to FB radicalizers to juiced-up podcasters? Or are these different groups, coalescing around themes of decay and destruction, willing to be used as pawns if it means that others will suffer?

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It really is, all about perspective isn't it?

And of course that perspective is viewed through our one-of-a-kind, very own lens.

This morning, someone Tweeted a pic of their current weather conditions. It was snowing hard, adding to a covered landscape. And it reminded me how much I miss the northern winters. I know that people who are not fans of cold weather & significant inconveniences, don't get it.

But my one-of-a-kind, very own lens loves & misses winter.

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Thank you, Mary, for keeping us updated. It is much appreciated!

Since I am a visual person, I do not understand how "conservative" people can listen to doom-and-gloom podcasts and function in everyday life. I have to see the news in order to understand news. I think the reliable news channels (MSNBC, CNN) have standards - that is it!

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I find this one haunting...

Anecdote of the Jar

Wallace Stevens - 1879-1955

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I placed a jar in Tennessee,

And round it was, upon a hill.

It made the slovenly wilderness

Surround that hill.

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The wilderness rose up to it,

And sprawled around, no longer wild.

The jar was round upon the ground

And tall and of a port in air.

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It took dominion everywhere.

The jar was gray and bare.

It did not give of bird or bush,

Like nothing else in Tennessee.

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Thank you for the poem. It snowed quietly all day in ptown. I wish there was a photo icon so I could share. 🙏

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I wish it were snowing here. It would be like home. It would be like Stevie and I were children again. Playing. Planning on changing the world. Loving. I love the world for Stevie now.

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I’m so sorry to say I used to like Dr. Mercola. Is he the same person? Why did I think we’ll of him once upon a time?

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Yeah, I used to like Mercola or think he had some redeeming value, but sadly, not any more.

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Should I be glad I never knew who Dr. Mercola was?

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I just want to say that if Tucker Carlson was as popular as he thinks he is, he would be on network TV, not on cable.

This fact reminds me of a ‘reality’ TV show called ‘Duck Dynasty’.

If Duck Dynasty truly had connected with the American people, the advertisers would have made sure it was on the biggest platform available: which would have been network TV.

It wasn’t.

And as it turned out, for very good reasons.

The biggest turnoff for the broadcasting industry is bigoted people who exhibit exclusionary attitudes towards any potential customers with cash in their wallets or lines of credit.

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Mary how's this for Yesterday: The Cure "All Cats Are Grey" on FAITH LP 1982!

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Steven Hassan has a podcast. He is a cult expert who is busy educating ppl. He's an author & teacher. He specializes in recovery & intervention. Access on Twitter.

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My favorite Wallace Stevens poem (favorite line of any he wrote: “Oh blessed rage for order, pale Ramon”)

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43431/the-idea-of-order-at-key-west

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I just finished reading Michelle Obama's book, "Becoming." Reliving the many events during her husband's administration, and inside doings, was fascinating. The elegance of their behavior, the appropriate actions they took during all events, whether it was international policy, or at home gun violence, further pointed out for me that when Barack handed over the keys to the White House to Donald, it was like a quick jump into hell.

To paraphrase Jayne Moorehouse below, good thing that happened, we got to know that not all Trumps are Donalds.

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