Daily Blues & Views

Twilight brings the faint noise of a dog whose failing bark yields to night The silence shatters from within  I realize the days and miles have added up too many times The stepping stones become a blind crossroads I cannot follow I turn and enter the room where candlelight sketches my past and the moonlit faces of comely women, faded poems in hand I see the quiet street, the unpaved roads and the directionless signs Days became miles became days and miles became years Gone.

We're back in Watergate mode again.  All the cliches are blossoming on the surface of this dirty dishwater we call a Presidential administration.  Let's see, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up, what did he know, and when did he know it? don't forget about "midnight massacres" and the ever-popular "Constitutional crisis." So the Attorney General acting under orders fires the Deputy director of the FBI right before he's eligible for his pension.  After 20 years on the job, some "thank you for your service." Your service... your service, we hear this when people work for the government.  We hear it especially when they fight the government's wars.  It's become a sacred chant for most who serve their government.  But there are a few who serve and never get thanked.  They get explanations, accusations, and all too often, shown the door. What happens when government service takes another form?  Those young people, myself inc...

On the surface, the notion that arming teachers is a viable solution to the complex issue of school shootings is absurd.  It's ridiculous for so many reasons, not the least of which is the destruction of the learning environment that would surely be a consequence.  Oh, I know that an active shooter roaming the hallways is a greater disturbance to the learning environment, but what I'm suggesting is that any proliferation of firearms in or near a classroom diminishes the idea that this is a place of learning and that inside the walls of a classroom resides a learning community. I get that one well-trained person might make a difference during an active shooter incident but to add the idea of arming teachers onto the job description of an already overstressed profession is both repugnant and ludicrous. I say this because of the reality of a teacher's day.  Unless they walk around their rooms with holsters or have a rifle rack behind the desk, the chances of a teac...

The magic is in the numbers                                 the colors                                  the people                                   the lineage                                     the names You have to take a risk, follow a link, look deeply and      understand the weather                        the myriad of variables, and, always,                        be willing to abandon logic and certainty in an instant. Each race is a puzzle with its own cast of characters       ...