The present eating the future . . .
Sunday, October 18, 2026. It's Sol's day . . . At 8 a.m. in the Mailbox.
Moderate Southerlies return to the forecasts for GreenCountry and TulseyTown today. An afternoon of sunny skies and upper 60's ahead of a mid-week warming trend.
America makes its choice. – Robert Reich, Sunday Thought.
Wynton Marsalis is 65 today. A renowned American jazz musician, he was born in 1961 New Orleans, Louisiana. His accolades include nine Grammy Awards, and his 1997 oratorio Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music.
Blues/Rock guitarist, composer and singer Chuck Berry was born today in 1926 St. Louis, Missouri.
Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was born on this day in 1919 Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His terms in office (1968–79; 1980–84) were marked by the establishment of diplomatic relations with China, the defeat of the French separatist movement, constitutional independence from the British Parliament, and the formation of a new Canadian constitution with the principal additions of a bill of rights and an amending formula. His son, Justin Trudeau, followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming Canadian prime minister in 2015.
It’s also the birthdate of Lotte Lenya, born in 1898, Vienna, Austria. The Austrian actress-singer popularized much of the music of her first husband, the composer Kurt Weill, and appeared frequently in the musical dramas of Weill and his longtime collaborator Bertolt Brecht. Among them, The Threepenny Opera, Mother Courage and Her Children, and Cabaret.
The Japanese Buddhist scholar and thinker who was the chief interpreter of Zen Buddhism to the West, D.T. Suzuki, was born on this date in 1870, Kanazawa, Japan.
And, the first transistor radio appeared on the market. in just in time for Christmas in 1954. An immediate success, it paved the way for rock and roll.
… the incentives of the [democratic/capitalist] system deliver what the most influential demographic wants, and when they want it, which is now. This short term gratification is The Achilles heel of consumer democracies : There is precious little constituency for the future in the present. – Nathan Gardels, When The Present Eats The Future, Noema. 10.16.26
Teach the children well . . .
Saturday, October 17, 2026. It's the Satyr's day . . . NorEasterlies continue to cool GreenCountry are in the forecasts today. Sunshine and mid 60's are slated for TulseyTown's afternoon. Southerlies and warmer conditions return tomorrow.
Today is the birthday of Shinichi Suzuki in 1898 Nagoya, Japan. He developed the Suzuki Violin Method of teaching which has expanded into the wider field of general childhood education.
It's also the birthdate of playwriter Arthur Miller, born in 1915 New York City.
And, so, the chaos of Trump’s MAGA administration continues. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American, posted for today.
Trump's moral squalor. – Robert Reich, Common Decency. 10.16.26
If grief can be a doorway to love, then let us all weep for the world we are breaking apart so we can love it back to wholeness again. – Robin Wall Kimmerer
Rats, ships, and a “real” America.
Friday, October 16, 2026. It's Frigg's day . . . and the first Fall cold snap is moving in on us at this 8 o'clock hour. GreenCountry forecasts indicate strong Northerlies, and 40's in spite of sunny skies. TulseyTown's afternoon will feel downright cold in the blustery winds.
Life isn’t a Rubik’s Cube. – Steve Hauptman, LCSW, in Tiny Buddha,
Never in the history of modern polling has “corruption” been the leading issue in an American election. Trump has made it one. – Miles Taylor, Defiance.
Rats and sinking ships. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.
What would a real “America First” agenda look like? – Robert Reich, posted on subtack.
American conductor Marin Alsop celebrates her 70th birthday today. The international laureate was born on this day in New York City.
Today is the birthdate of Eugene O’Neill. The dramatist and Nobel Laureate for literature was born in 1888, New York City. His works included Long Day’s Journey into Night and The Iceman Cometh.
Playwriter Oscar Wilde was born on this day in 1854 Dublin.
The author of the first American/English dictionary, Noah Webster was born today in 1758 Hartford, Connecticut.
Nobel Prize laureate Günter Grass was also born on this date. The German poet, novelist (The Tin Drum), playwright, and sculptor was born in 1927, Danzig [now Gdańsk, Poland].
And today in 1847 English novelist Charlotte Brontë (under the pseudonym Currer Bell) published Jane Eyre, which became a classic, giving a new truthfulness to the Victorian novel.
I have never understood how people can look at a health care system where tens of thousands of Americans die because they don't have insurance and think that is acceptable. I have never understood how anyone can look at the hundreds of thousands of Americans who face financial ruin or declare bankruptcy because of medical bills and think that is ok. In every other developed country on this planet people get sick -- just like we do. But in those countries -- as a right -- they are able to go to a doctor, get the medicine they need, and don't go bankrupt as a result. – AOC, in an email to me yesterday.
There are a million additional reasons why the midterm elections – two weeks away – and the Presidential election – two years away – why they are important, if not crucial. If you haven't latley, check your registration and polling location. Online search for your local election board. In Tulsa County you can find it here.