New View Askew

  Note: I have taken the liberty to intersperse a few thoughts said better by a very eloquent guy. They are borrowed from the 60th reunion speech by Stephen J. Trachtenberg, class of ’59, Columbia University. Call the police - and some paramedics - the class of '66 is partying! Don't blame me, Sheri, I told you we should NOT have let Pederson know about the reunion! Has it already been ten years since my classmates and I celebrated 50 years away from (the no-longer-existing) Jefferson Senior High? Yes, sir! We celebrated the rather awe-inspiring number 60 recently. And what a wild time we had - some of us stayed up until after 10! Lotta snow on the roof  there  Thanks to fine work of the People’s Committee for Honoring the Alexandria Class of ‘66, some 49 of us (original class size: 266, 178 at time of reunion) gathered in the old home town on a dreary Minnesota fall evening. It was brightened by familiar voices - perhaps a bit huskier with age - sharing old stories made ...

AI Free There is much pearl clutching today by the leaders of the Democratic party as it relates to the Democratic Socialists (DS) who have somehow managed to get themselves endorsed and elected. A  generally moderate independent voter, I admit touching some pearls myself.    Democrats are concerned that they (DS) will drag the whole party down; in what should be a huge, blue tsunami some fear it could end up a small wave lapping helplessly ashore because of DS candidates. A legitimate fear. Meanwhile, supporters of these new interlopers say the DS candidates are generating the first real excitement for the Democrats in many years. There is some truth to that too. Republicans, naturally, and others of their ilk are describing these “wild-eyed radicals” as Communists. Not true, of course, although compared to today's two main Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum parties they are certainly "different."  (Besides, to today's Republicans anyone to the left of Genghis Khan is co...

  The Red Headed Stepchild of Months  The bright side of August I have gone back in my vast archives to see if I have ever talked much about the month of August. It appears I have spared you - until now. Lucky you. “August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.”  Sylvia Plath “If June was the beginning of a hopeful summer, and July the juice middle, August was suddenly feeling like the bitter end.” Sarah Dessen Enough from poets, let's talk about August. The eighth month, named after Roman Emperor Augustus; still summer, hot, muggy and long as it slowly becomes . . . the dog days of summer. By the way, the dog days of summer were so named by the Greeks and Romans because the very bright star Sirius, the Dog Star, shows up in the night sky this time of the year so the boys in robes and togas figured it was hot like the sun and must make things hotter here. Hey, made sense at the time. So, what do you think about Augu...

America at 250 Yrs An homage to  July 20th, 1969 City on the Hill     "Nations reel and stagger on their way; they make hideous mistakes; they commit frightful wrongs; they do great and beautiful things. And shall we not best guide humanity by telling the truth about all this, so far as the truth is ascertainable?"    W.E.B. Du Bois Yes, there was a time when America was seen as the glittering City on the Hill. I mean it wasn’t perfect - nothing is - and it didn’t glitter for everyone but it was there nonetheless. A city that made sacrifices for others in the Civil War, WWI and II and even our misguided wars since. It was a city where we were sure tomorrow would be better than today and parents could expect their children to have better lives than theirs. Despite our flaws, it was a country that worked; a country that made great promises and kept them. Promises like putting a man on the moon. I remember that night very clearly even though it was fifty-seven...

            A   Bad Combo Adding Insult to Injury on Father's Day?                               Happy golfers on Fathers Day  until . . . . . . Discovering the Summer Solstice falls on this Fathers Day AND US Open final round! Father’s Day and the summer solstice, on the same damn day!? I wonder if there is a hidden message or meaning to this  . . . "coincidence." Everyone knows that Father’s Day is the least important of the many made-up holidays. Don't believe me? Then how come all the FD greeting cards say, "Dear Dad . . . Who Cares, LMAO!” Also, you can count on one hand the number of times you see a kid waving and yelling “Hi dad” on tv, it’s always “Hi mom!” And that’s okay, moms deserve it. Besides, that’s the way it should be, dads are meant to toil in familial obscurity. We can’t compete with a mother’s love so all we can do is try to compete with brute...