Maps are not the territory . . .

Wednesday, June 3, 2026. It's Odin's day . . . moderate Southerlies bring slight rain chances to TulseyTown today. Mid 80's are in the forecasts for Green Country.

love is what you are, not something you find, earn, or lose

Today is a good reminder that elections start way before November. The choices made in primaries shape everything that comes after. The most important thing you can do is stay informed and stay registered. Check your status, find your polling place, and pass it on to someone who might not know theirs.

Re-reminding: Oklahoma Governor & Superintendent Candidate forums begin today and Thursday, June 4 at TU's Lorton Center. Doors and reception begins at 5pm. A Tulsa Press Club led Q&A starts at 6pm. Could be a packed house. Admission is free both dates.

In a U-turn in the right direction, Trump has signed an Executive Order seeking oversight of A.I.

And another move in the wrong direction: If you thought Tulsi Gabbard was a problem. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.

And yet, more . . . “60 Minutes” is being “murdered,” as correspondent Scott Pelley called what’s happening at CBS,not because of economics but because of politics. Economically, is a goldmine. Politically, it’s dangerous as hell to Trump. – Robert Reich, 06.03.26

CBS fired Pelly yesterday.

Speaking of “60 Minutes,” Anderson Cooper is 59 today, born in 1967 New York City. He quit “60 Minutes.”

It's the 100th anniversary of Allen Ginsberg's birth. One of the 20th century's most influential poets, and regarded as a founding father of the Beat Movement, he was born on this day in 1926 Newark, New Jersey.

The Pulitzer laureate for Lonesome Dove, author Larry McMurtry was born today in 1936 Wichita Falls, Texas.

120 years ago today, Josephine Baker was born in 1906 St. Louis, Missouri. The American-born French dancer and singer symbolized the beauty and vitality of Black American culture, which took Paris by storm in the 1920s.

Today is the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

In 1992 a lawsuit was decided on this day in favor of Torres Strait Islander peoples and Aboriginal peoples establishing land rights for all Indigenous peoples in Australia.

It is important to reassure each other that these terrible times will end. More Americans are seeing through the lies as well as the cruelty and corruption. They’re deciding they want this daymare to end, peacefully, and are committed to rebuilding and rectifying the nation. – Robert Reich, You're Not Alone, Nor Crazy.

Waiting, on everything . . .

Tuesday, June 2, 2026. It's Tiw's day . . . Morning thunderstorms in TulseyTown are featured in the forecasts for Green Country. Strong NorEasters make for a cloudy afternoon in the upper 80's.

Today is the birthdate of poet and novelist Thomas Hardy, born in 1840, Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, England.

The Salem Witch Trials handed down their first conviction on this day in 1692.

Yesterday, on June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith, a Republican from Maine, stood up against Republican Senator Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin and his supporters, who were undermining American democracy in a crusade against “communism.” – Heather Cox Richardson.

Returning to 2026, yesterday, newsman Scott Pelly unloaded an earful for his bosses at CBS in a face-to-face.

The week ahead. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.

Heads up: Oklahoma Governor & Superintendent Candidate forums are Tuesday, June 2, and Thursday, June 4 at TU's Lorton Center. Admission is free both dates, lobby reception with candidates start at 5pm with a Tulsa Press Club led Q&A starting at 6pm. Could be a packed house.

Iran and its role in the president’s deteriorating mental condition take Heather Cox Richardson's primary concern in today's Letter From An American.

The truth about Trump's upcoming birthday bash. It's a propaganda extravaganza that you will pay for. – Robert Reich.

Apparently worried that enough people won’t show up for Trump’s big UFC birthday bash on June 14, the Pentagon is moving in the troops at his insistence and with Hegseth's help. Well, some troops. Only the buff ones. And the young ones. Er, no women. Oh, and there need to be a bunch from outside of D.C. … and they must pay their own expenses.

And, reinforcing what you should already know: Even the “purest” bottled water may be dosing your body with invisible plastics that slip past the blood-brain barrier. New research indicates that people who rely on plastic bottled water may ingest up to 90,000 more plastic particles a year than those who drink tap water alone (4,000).

Everything is Waiting for You

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings.

…

the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.
The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,

…

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into
the conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

– David Whyte, “Everything Is Waiting For You,” Available at Many Rivers Press (revised) 2022.

Absolute irony . . .

Monday, June 1, 2026. It's the Moon's day . . . still full, still blue, but beginning to wane. A slow start to a hot, sunny day in Green Country and TulseyTown. Moderate Southerlies and 95º by mid afternoon. Rainy night before midnight is possible this evening. Significantly cooler tomorrow.

The beautiful irony about the spiritual journey is that we find it only leads us to become just as we are. The exalted state of enlightenment is nothing more than fully knowing ourselves and our world, just as we are. – Pema Chödrön, Living Beautifully, Shambhala. 2019.

Trump's past is catching up with him and he can't do anything about it. – Joyce Vance, in Civil Discourse.

It's Still Capital vs. Labor. – Robert Reich, Sunday Thought.

Today is the 100th anniversary of Marilyn Monroe's birth, in 1926 Los Angeles, California.

Among the most-respected actors of his generation, Morgan Freeman was born 89 years ago today in 1937, Memphis, Tennessee.

Alanis Morissette is 52 today. The Queen of Alt-Rock Angst (according to Rolling Stone) was born in 1974, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Yin and Yang arising mutually is the absolute operationalization of irony. Ms. Morissete captured it.