Daily Blues & Views

 Among the things that the current "wood chipper" administration is eliminating, is the penny. That's right, the shiny copper-colored 1 cent coin will be no more.  Its lowly amount has no place in our lives any longer and the Emperor, despite wearing no clothes, has called for its elimination.   True, it has become mostly an irritation to most folks, but the U.S. penny one has many uses and was often a welcome addition to our pockets, change purses, and glass coin saving jars.  On occasion, people were paid solely in pennies if the person doing the paying wanted to make a statement to the recipient of the debt.  That might not be possible for too much longer.  But the fact that millions of pennies lurk in the corners of our homes and inside couch cushions and coin banks, their need may one day emerge.   When it costs 3 cents to make 1 cent, the logic of continuing to mint pennies seems ridiculous.  Hence, the penny's demise. But the penny once had...

 I continue to deal with the question of what to do with all the material things one manages to collect during a lifetime. I have downsized a bit, but there is always more.  What I'm finding is that it's much more difficult to throw away letters, cards, and photographs than objects. I want to give them some sort of ceremony before I put this ephemera in a trash can.  Burning things in a fireplace seems like the way to go, but that's not possible these days.  Tearing up things I would rather nobody read or see seems rather crude and cruel.  Sure, nobody will know, but it's difficult to destroy art and notes that were originally filled with love and concern. To make matters worse, I've recently been sent envelopes of similar things that once belonged to a good friend of mine.  After he died, his partner began sending me records, books, and some of his fly fishing gear.  Now I'm getting newspaper clippings, cards, and bits and pieces of his books, chapboo...

 Play is the work of childhood.  So the experts tell us.  But a child's play is no longer what it once was.  Child psychologists have recently expressed concern that children today are losing valuable skills because their play and playtime has been rapidly changing.  These changes include more adult supervision and less time outside.   One of the consequences of this seems to be the inablility to solve conflicts on their own.   This got me thinking.  How does children's play today differ from what was play in my childhood.  One obvious difference is that children rarely play outside in their neighborhoods any more.  Gone are in the street baseball games and summertime classics like "red light, green light."   To be sure, the rise of computer technology has a lot to do with this.  Combined with the fear of childhood abduction, it's easy to see why the neighborhood issue quiet outside these days.  What a tradeoff.   It'...

 While the country waits for another Super Bowl, the slow moving coup we're undergoing inches along.  The Constitution quakes, splinters, and seems less relevant every day.  Its unbroken record is serious threatened.  This is no bank crisis that Andrew Jackson faced, this is no civi war, not yet because the house is divided.  This is no Watergate.  This is raw power in the hands of a sociopath and a tech billionaire somewhere on the spectrum.   Congress needs a refresher course on Separation of Powers.  Why are many in both houses so willing to offer up their share?  The Trump juggernaut rolls over everything in its path.  Where is the outrage from his own party? The guy hasn't read a book in years.  That's why he can so easily revert to imperialism to back up his strong leanings toward racism, colonialism, and condescension.  He's a walking mess when it comes to understanding history and other cultures.  That's why we can...