Remembering Miss Moneypenney . . .
Thursday, May 28, 2026. It's Thor's day . . . Moderate Southerlies and rain chances are in the forecasts for Green Country and TulseyTown today. A cooler afternoon upper 70's to near 80º.
Comfort provides a floor but also a ceiling. – Trever Noah
The man who built his political career on silencing inconvenient witnesses just proposed a government-wide gag order on two million federal workers. – Miles Taylor, Defiance, 5.27.26.
Republicans can look forward in Texas to dumping another $250 million into trying to get Paxton elected, running against James Talarico, money that they needed to flip Democratic seats elsewhere. Republicans are increasingly relying on a playbook from the 1800's. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American posted for today.
Glory Days. – Joyce Vance, in today's Civil Discourse. To the point: Support James Talarico in Texas.
One of the most accomplished all-around athletes in history, Jim Thorpe, was born today in 1888 Prague, Oklahoma.
Today is also the birthdate of Ian Fleming. Born in 1908, London, England, the suspense-fiction novelist gave us the character James Bond – the stylish, high-living British secret service agent 007.
Sonny Rollins, whose forceful and imaginative approach to the tenor saxophone made him one of the dominant jazz musicians of the post-World War II era, died at his home in Woodstock, N.Y., on Monday. He was 95.
And, the poet May Swenson was born on this day in 1913 Logan, Utah.
A party isn’t a party unless people dance.
My baby’s a Democrat / But when I wear a top hat / And carry a cane, I engage her, / She forgets I’m an English major. /
Yes, I’m a bibliophile / And I’m old but I’ve got style. / When I’m in a subjunctive mood, / I don’t sit in the dark and brood, /
I let the music fill my senses / And conjugate my tenses. / A gentleman of grace and glamour / Who can dance with perfect grammar, /
I like to practice seduction / By elegant sentence construction.
Garrison Keillor, “The Man at the Typewiter,” The Column. 5.27.26
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain . . .
Wednesday, May 27, 2026. It's Odin's day . . . Forecasts for Green Country indicate thunderstorms in TulseyTown beginning in the afternoon with rain chances possibly overnight into tomorrow morning. Cooler, upper 70’s. Moderate Easterlies are to become Northerly overnight.
Because there is no separation between self and other, the power-beyond-ourselves sustains our entire existence. We are entirely dependent on an impermanent undefinable: A rapidly changing dark matter universe.
Pope Leo XIV (a mathematician by education) has called for regulation of Ai, outlined in an encyclical – Magnifica Humanitas – focusing on "the safeguarding of the human person in the time of artificial intelligence." The encyclical is more than just a message to tech companies and the Catholic Church. For Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Magnifica Humanitas presents ideas for people across the globe to rally around as AI becomes an ever-increasing presence in our lives. – CNET, 5.25.26
Anthropic's atheist co-founder stood onstage at the Vatican alongside two cardinals as Pope Leo signed his encyclical. It was on the 135th anniversary of the last papal letter addressing a world-changing technology. That one tackled the Industrial Revolution. This one's about your soul. --Kim Komando, The Current, 2.26.26
Friday, after Trump's last declaration of a “near deal” with Iran, Iran’s state media immediately posted that Trump’s claims that the strait would reopen as it was before the war was “not true,” adding that “it should be noted that American officials have acknowledged in multiple messages to Iran that Trump’s tweets are primarily for promotional purposes and media consumption within the United States, and they have recommended that no attention be paid to these statements.” – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American, 5.26.26
Analysts are warning about a market crash, and it stands to be bleaker than anything we’ve seen since 1929. – Miles Taylor, Defiance, 5.26.26
Today is the birthdate of Rachel Carson. The environmentalist author of The Silent Spring. was born in 1907 Springdale, Pennsylvania.
Vincent Price was born today in 1911 St. Louis, Missouri. Price’s menacing screen presence was in direct contrast to his offscreen reputation for kindness and generosity, his art collection and cookbooks.
Another famous film villain, Christopher Lee, was born in 1922 Belgravia, London, England.
It's also John Cheever's birthday. The multi awarded short story writer was born on this day in 1912 Quincy, Massachusetts.
And, it's Linda Pastan's birthdate. The poet laureate was born in the 1932 Bronx, New York City.
How can a people who do not mean to understand death hope to understand love.
And who will sound the alarm? — John Cheever, The Stories of John Cheever (1978), Vintage. 2000.
Blues boy blew his horn . . .
Tuesday, May 26, 2026. It's Tiw's day . . . clear, calm and mild at 6:30a.m. on the Way to the mailbox. Northeasterlies are in the forecasts for TulseyTown this afternoon with increasing clouds, slight rain chances and mid 80's.
Every day is Memorial Day:
Freedom is the recognition that we create our future right now, in the present. It's what becomes possible when we trust that what we do together matters. Memorial Day honors those who gave everything to protect that possibility. What we do with that gift is up to us.
Heather Cox Richardson has a powerful idea of what to do with that gift. What has made America great has always been the American people. Now, as for the past 250 years, “We Are America.”-- in Letters From An American.
America is slouching toward the 250th anniversary of our revolution against arbitrary power with a president who shamelessly exercises it. Never before have we witnessed this degree of self-dealing, bribe taking, usurpation of congressional authority, and open defiance of federal courts. – Robert Reich, Full Neofascism, 5.26.26
It's 1984 … again. – Joyce Vance, The Week Ahead, in Civil Discourse.
On this day in 1940, during World War II, the British Expeditionary Force began its evacuation of British and Allied troops from the French seaport of Dunkirk. While the Royal Air Force patrolled the skies, some 700 civilian craft—the “little ships” of Dunkirk—joined the rescue effort. In the end, 338,226 Allied troops were ferried to safety in England.
Today is the birthdate of Dorothea Lange. The documentary photographer was born in 1895 Hoboken, New Jersey. Her portraits of displaced farmers during the Great Depression greatly influenced later documentary and journalistic photography.
John Wayne was born on this day in 1907, Winterset, Iowa.
The first American woman to travel into outer space, astronaut Sally Ride, was born in 1951, Encino, California.
And, Miles Davis was born in 1926 Alton, Illinois. A five decade career placed him and his trumpet among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music.