Myths, treason, and cats on roofs . . .

Thursday, March 26, 2026. It's Thor's day . . . the heat dome remains over Green Country. Forecasts for TulseyTown indicate a record-setting hot day in the 90's with strong, gusty Southerlies after noon.

The genuine path of unminding is not a religion for the immature – Zen Master Fen-yang.

The suspicious timing of trades in S&P 500 and oil futures on Monday about fifteen minutes before Trump announced his team had been negotiating with Iran—although it hadn’t—has raised public accusations of insiders trading on national security information and thereby endangering Americans. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American posted for today.

Liability judgments and warning labels are not enough to protect children from becoming addicted to social media. – Robert Reich, substack, 3.26.26

More birthdates of note . . .

Erica Jong is 84 today, born in 1942 New York City. Since Fear of Flying, Jong has written 20 more books — nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.

Richard Dawkins is 85 born in 1941, Nairobi, Kenya. He is a British evolutionary biologist, ethologist, and popular-science writer who emphasized the gene as the driving force of evolution and generated significant controversy with his enthusiastic advocacy of atheism.

Nancy Pelosi is 86 today. She was born in 1940, Baltimore, Maryland.

It's also the birthdate of the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O’Connor. She was born in 1930, El Paso, Texas.

Mythologist Joseph Campbell (The Hero’s Journey) was born on this day in 1904, New York City.

American dramatist Tennessee Williams was born today in 1911, Columbus, Mississippi.

And, Robert Frost was born in 1874, San Francisco, California He was the most highly honored American poet of the 20th century, receiving the Pulitzer Prize for poetry four times.

Good Hours

I had for my winter evening walk—
No one at all with whom to talk,
But I had the cottages in a row
Up to their shining eyes in snow.

And I thought I had the folk within:
I had the sound of a violin;
I had a glimpse through curtain laces
Of youthful forms and youthful faces.

I had such company outward bound.
I went till there were no cottages found.
I turned and repented, but coming back
I saw no window but that was black.

Over the snow my creaking feet
Disturbed the slumbering village street
Like profanation, by your leave,
At ten o’clock of a winter eve.

– Robert Frost, “Good Hours,.” This poem is in the public domain.

I couldn't forget Béla . . .

Wednesday, March 25, 2026. It's Odin's day . . . Strong Southerlies are to bring record high temperatures to Green Country today. The forecasts for TulseyTown indicate windy, clear, sunny skies and mid 90's. Gusty winds are in the forecasts through Friday, turning Northerly Friday morning.

Everything’s miraculous if my heart is open enough and I’m present enough to receive it. – Mark Nepo

Good news for us: Creatives keep being born:

Gloria Steinem is 92 born March 25, 1934, Toledo,Ohio. She famously said “A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.” A leading feminist spokesperson since the mid-20th century, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

Elton John is 79. He was born in 1947, Pinner, Middlesex, England.

Sarah Jessica Parker is 60 today born in 1965, Nelsonville, Ohio. She’s won six Golden Globe Awards and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2022

Aretha Franklin was born on this day in 1942, Memphis, Tennessee, Considered one of the greatest vocalists of the 20th century.

And it's the birthdate of Flannery O’Connor. The novelist and short-story writer was born in 1925 Savannah, Georgia.

It looks like Trump tried to “fix” the stock market. And, if so, it might even have been treason.

“Insider trading” is one thing. It is illegal. But exploiting confidential information about national security for private financial gain is something else again. It puts profit-making above Americans’ safety. – Heather Cox Richardson, in Letters From An American.

“Fixing” the stock market matters. There’s a word for it. It’s called corruption. – Robert Reich, “Trump’s Graft, Insider’s Grift” substack 3.25.26

The 2026 midterms are shaping up as a referendum on exactly this kind of corruption. Trump and his cronies are leaving a paper trail for future prosecutors. So much so, it's like they want to go to prison. – Miles Taylor, Defiance, 3.25.26

Oh, I almost forgot: Today is also the birthday of Béla Bartók. The Hungarian composer was born in 1881, Nagyszentmiklós, Austria-Hungary now Romania. His Concerto for Orchestra is a staple of the standard concert repertory.

Shining light into dark places . . .

Tuesday, March 24, 2026. It's Tiw's day . . . moderate Southerlies maintain a mixed cloudy day over Green Country with some sun peaking. Mid 70's are in the forecasts. for TulseyTown.

Wheresoever we go, we bring light. It's why we are here.

Today is the birthdate of Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers in San Francisco, he was born in 1919 Bronxville, New York.

John Wesley Powell was also born on this date. The geologist and explorer of the Grand Canyon and upper Colorado river was born in 1834 Mount Morris, New York.

Travelers at any major U.S. airport will soon feel like they’ve entered a foreign land. – Miles Taylor, in Defiance, 3.23.26

Trump's reckoning is underway. He has deflected and escalated his way into a global conflict he cannot control with domestic ramifications Republicans cannot endure. It's a death spiral for both. – Matt Kerbel, Wolves and Sheep, 3.23.26

What was actually in the Meller Report? – Joyce Vance shines a light, in Civil Discourse.

Constantly Risking Absurdity

Constantly risking absurdity
and death
whenever he performs
above the heads
of his audience
the poet like an acrobat
climbs on rime
to a high wire of his own making
and balancing on eyebeams
above a sea of faces
paces his way
to the other side of day ...

– Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Constantly Risking Absurdity,” from A Coney Island of the Mind: Poems. New Directions. 1958.