A year ago yesterday, on February 5, 2020, the Republican-dominated Senate acquitted President Donald J. Trump of two charges for which the House had impeached him: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in order to rig his own reelection. A year ago today, February 6, 2020, 57-year-old Patricia Dowd of San Jose, California, died suddenly after feeling ill for several days. She is the nation's first known victim of coronavirus.
Thank you Heather! It’s been a coming and going year. I’m just not sure what is coming and what is going. As a front line nurse I have been fully vaccinated and yet feel bad that so many elderly have not been. I have a 91 year old mom in assisted living who is generally healthy but at her age Covid would most likely be her end. And yet we have a disagreement in our family about whether she should be vaccinated. And then I have the Covid deniers who have made health care workers their enemy. It breaks my heart after being an RN for 35 years with the goal of promoting and doing what we can to keep our community healthy.
Heather, I have lived a very long time; fought a purposeless and violent war. We have much to be proud of and much to be ashamed of. But the Republican Party and especially those who desecrate their oaths of office in the Congress seem more vile and cowardly than anything I have experienced. I am not a person of faith, but God help us.
I have such gratitude EVERY SINGLE DAY for your letters. It’s a gift of sanity which helps ground me in the day of chaos these past several years. And in moving forward I so appreciate all the historical perspective you shine upon our past and present.....which is so needed in our country especially for our young but really all of us too!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Just when we thought “it was safe to go back in the water” .....trump will once again dominate the news cycle. We will be reliving the horrors of January 6th with the anticipated unbelievable ending that republican senators won’t convict trump. For the near term, when it comes to politics, I will only watch or listen to the WH press conferences (which have been fabulous) and read Heather’s letter. My brain is still in recovery from the damage of the past 4 years!
I so appreciate you Dr Richardson; thank you and have a pleasant “weekend”. (Well .... do you remember the Lady Dowager ask, “WHAT is a weekend?” (circa 1920). Now, I can ask the same question, but to rephrase, “What day is today?” I digress ....
In lieu of perhaps others wanting something to weighty to digest, since we have a light menu tonight here at the ‘HCR Cafe’, I thought I would offer some elemental economics in this Biden era, courtesy of Huffington Post
Basically, we have been deluded to think that conservative economics can offer us a stable country and community, by REFUSING to tax and spend! W T ? ? ? This is simply called delusional thinking! But somehow, this has been the narrative since Goldwater (1960s). Now, today, with a barren cupboard, where are the ingredients for our 1) health care system, 1A) ability to simply take care of a pandemic, 2) public schools, rural and urban, 3) stable infrastructure, 4) universally accessible internet network for ALL Americans, 5) etc and etc.
How in the world have we bought the notion of a ‘limited government’ to provide for a stable society? Free market corporations like Exxon, General Motors, General Dynamic and General Mills have NEVER been in the business of anything but making profit for themselves!
In other words, give me a good old fashioned “TAX-AND-SPEND-LIBERAL!” A good old fashioned liberal , like Joe Biden, and a youthful Californian tax-and-spend liberal like Kamala Harris!! Or in other words, in good old fashioned economics, “if you want the very best, ya gotta pony-up, cowboy and cowgirl!"
And I have a good old fashioned, warm-bodied-thinkin’ that Joe Knows where to go for some dough!
A Heart-Felt Thank You to All of You, and of course Heather
This is a turning point week for me. A big part of my joy is directly attributable to success with my destiny work.
My life’s work, my calling, is producing a story in the form of a book and a movie. I call this eventual book and movie my “story project.”
This week, a complete picture of my story project has emerged. I also have a name for it; that name, or a very close variant, will likely grace the book cover (and the movie poster, if it comes to that).
My science fiction story project is a vision of a society which has a healthy and balanced relationship with the Earth, our Home.
That vision of a healthy society has story lines, what I call my various “Plots,“ which would or could make up a book series or movie series or series of TV episodes.
The core concept is a team of characters who are made up of representatives from all over the world. The team comes together: a whole set of early chapters in the book is devoted to that process. After they bond, the team is faced with challenges which they must resolve in order to bring harmony back to their relationship with the planet. Each of the characters contributes their special talents, their knowledge and experience, to the resolution of a special social issue.
It’s an allegory for humankind on this planet.
Readers (viewers) are invited to contribute their own social solutions and story perspective. All of human civilization has a part to play in the eventual outcome of the story that is our developing history in this world, i.e. world history.
Here in this forum, we give a lot of attention to problems. The story project is devoted to solutions. What makes it “science fiction,“ or “social fiction“ might be a better label, is the fact that we are inventing the future together. That future doesn’t exist yet, it’s being created, hence it’s fictional.
Until this week, I was fuzzy about the overall, overarching mission of the crew of characters. No more.
I want to thank each and every one of you for your contribution to my work. These discussions here in Heather’s living room have been invaluable. Whether you have provided stimulus in the form of a post, whether you have responded to one of my posts, or whether you have just read and considered my words, you have been an integral and vital part of my arriving at a clear awareness of my story project. Special thanks to Judith Jordet and to the participants in the discussion of The Fifth Sacred Thing.
Primary thanks, of course, to Heather for the incredible hard work of producing her historical synopsis every day.
This message is intended as an announcement of gratitude only. I purposely left out names and details about my characters and Plots.
Take two days off. We on this list serv are not as important as the Oregon Historical Society presentation. You need to inspire other Historians to take up the responsibility as safe keepers of the story of the first democratic republic. We will wait for you until next Tuesday.
Rest before this next battle of understanding. Our love will still be here waiting for you. You must stay healthy and build your strength to be the witness to History as it unfolds before our eyes. You are the one who sees among the crowd who are blind to the meaning of our times.
WHAT a year it's been...it's enough to make one want to sleep for weeks. SO many people gone...SO much suffering...SO many prayers to be offered up for lives lost...SO much is owed to the people on the front lines of this tragedy. God give them strength to carry on. Sleep the good sleep of a job well done for this past year, Heather, and may all our dreams come to pass of a better year ahead.
Professor, you reminded me of Adam Schiff's impassioned closing argument during the first Trump impeachment, a harbinger of darkness and loss we couldn't have imagined: "He has compromised our elections, and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is."
Schiff also said, "Truth matters little to him. What's right matters even less, and decency matters not at all."
If only the Senate Republicans had been persuaded. Will they now atone for their grievous error the second time around after all that's happened? And send a signal that enough is enough? Never.
We are still struggling to manage this coronavirus . In Maine our teachers who are front line workers still can not get a vaccine. Not only is the vaccine unavailable the Governor and Dr. Jha are supporting varsity sports to start. This means teams will compete with each other across the state. I am at a complete loss to understand how this takes priority over focusing on stopping the spread of this deadly disease. Twenty four states are prioritizing vaccinating teachers. We need a National plan to end this spread. Countries who have done this are fairing much better than we are.
Good morning Heather and dear subscribers. Tears are pushed back, so that I may properly thank you for being friends of care, thought, participation and learning. Letters from an American brings me to you, and Heather centers my mind as an active citizen. Today's Letter, bookended the year from early February 2020 to early February 2021, It was a call for me of mourning, sadness and turmoil. Its cover is a sunrise, so on this Sunday we absorb the year past and look to the light of a new day.
The defenders of Donald Trump are going to argue that the Constitution does not include the impeachment of a “former” president. That may be so, but Trump, by his own admission is not a “former” president. In fact, even his own letterhead states the it comes from the “Office of the 45th President.” In that semantic reckoning, he can be impeached as the 45th President of the United States. There is no need to argue or even conceive of a former president, he is still the 45th president of the United States. He even occupies an office that displays the emblem of the President of the United States.
I write this to you because, thankfully, you have a bigger megaphone than I.
On a different subject - with all the hand wringing about extreme views of Republicans, no one has mentioned gerrymandering as the cause of this change in our political landscape. If you make a district safe for Republicans, they will be challenged, as in any election, but not by Democrats. This forces the dialogue ever rightward, and Ms Greene is the logical result. There have been lots of schemes for mandating cohesive districts. MIT put out one that rewarded districts that were symmetrical by using a mathematical formula.
Wouldn’t it be possible to create a law saying that all districts had to conform to a certain standard, but within that parameter the States set their districts, as always. I’d love your opinion on this apparently easy and elegant solution to voter suppression, and the rightward swing of our politics.
Thank you Heather! It’s been a coming and going year. I’m just not sure what is coming and what is going. As a front line nurse I have been fully vaccinated and yet feel bad that so many elderly have not been. I have a 91 year old mom in assisted living who is generally healthy but at her age Covid would most likely be her end. And yet we have a disagreement in our family about whether she should be vaccinated. And then I have the Covid deniers who have made health care workers their enemy. It breaks my heart after being an RN for 35 years with the goal of promoting and doing what we can to keep our community healthy.
Heather, I have lived a very long time; fought a purposeless and violent war. We have much to be proud of and much to be ashamed of. But the Republican Party and especially those who desecrate their oaths of office in the Congress seem more vile and cowardly than anything I have experienced. I am not a person of faith, but God help us.
I have such gratitude EVERY SINGLE DAY for your letters. It’s a gift of sanity which helps ground me in the day of chaos these past several years. And in moving forward I so appreciate all the historical perspective you shine upon our past and present.....which is so needed in our country especially for our young but really all of us too!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Just when we thought “it was safe to go back in the water” .....trump will once again dominate the news cycle. We will be reliving the horrors of January 6th with the anticipated unbelievable ending that republican senators won’t convict trump. For the near term, when it comes to politics, I will only watch or listen to the WH press conferences (which have been fabulous) and read Heather’s letter. My brain is still in recovery from the damage of the past 4 years!
I so appreciate you Dr Richardson; thank you and have a pleasant “weekend”. (Well .... do you remember the Lady Dowager ask, “WHAT is a weekend?” (circa 1920). Now, I can ask the same question, but to rephrase, “What day is today?” I digress ....
In lieu of perhaps others wanting something to weighty to digest, since we have a light menu tonight here at the ‘HCR Cafe’, I thought I would offer some elemental economics in this Biden era, courtesy of Huffington Post
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/biden-beats-back-the-austerians-at-the-gates_n_601dc729c5b6d78d444666ec
Basically, we have been deluded to think that conservative economics can offer us a stable country and community, by REFUSING to tax and spend! W T ? ? ? This is simply called delusional thinking! But somehow, this has been the narrative since Goldwater (1960s). Now, today, with a barren cupboard, where are the ingredients for our 1) health care system, 1A) ability to simply take care of a pandemic, 2) public schools, rural and urban, 3) stable infrastructure, 4) universally accessible internet network for ALL Americans, 5) etc and etc.
How in the world have we bought the notion of a ‘limited government’ to provide for a stable society? Free market corporations like Exxon, General Motors, General Dynamic and General Mills have NEVER been in the business of anything but making profit for themselves!
In other words, give me a good old fashioned “TAX-AND-SPEND-LIBERAL!” A good old fashioned liberal , like Joe Biden, and a youthful Californian tax-and-spend liberal like Kamala Harris!! Or in other words, in good old fashioned economics, “if you want the very best, ya gotta pony-up, cowboy and cowgirl!"
And I have a good old fashioned, warm-bodied-thinkin’ that Joe Knows where to go for some dough!
A Heart-Felt Thank You to All of You, and of course Heather
This is a turning point week for me. A big part of my joy is directly attributable to success with my destiny work.
My life’s work, my calling, is producing a story in the form of a book and a movie. I call this eventual book and movie my “story project.”
This week, a complete picture of my story project has emerged. I also have a name for it; that name, or a very close variant, will likely grace the book cover (and the movie poster, if it comes to that).
My science fiction story project is a vision of a society which has a healthy and balanced relationship with the Earth, our Home.
That vision of a healthy society has story lines, what I call my various “Plots,“ which would or could make up a book series or movie series or series of TV episodes.
The core concept is a team of characters who are made up of representatives from all over the world. The team comes together: a whole set of early chapters in the book is devoted to that process. After they bond, the team is faced with challenges which they must resolve in order to bring harmony back to their relationship with the planet. Each of the characters contributes their special talents, their knowledge and experience, to the resolution of a special social issue.
It’s an allegory for humankind on this planet.
Readers (viewers) are invited to contribute their own social solutions and story perspective. All of human civilization has a part to play in the eventual outcome of the story that is our developing history in this world, i.e. world history.
Here in this forum, we give a lot of attention to problems. The story project is devoted to solutions. What makes it “science fiction,“ or “social fiction“ might be a better label, is the fact that we are inventing the future together. That future doesn’t exist yet, it’s being created, hence it’s fictional.
Until this week, I was fuzzy about the overall, overarching mission of the crew of characters. No more.
I want to thank each and every one of you for your contribution to my work. These discussions here in Heather’s living room have been invaluable. Whether you have provided stimulus in the form of a post, whether you have responded to one of my posts, or whether you have just read and considered my words, you have been an integral and vital part of my arriving at a clear awareness of my story project. Special thanks to Judith Jordet and to the participants in the discussion of The Fifth Sacred Thing.
Primary thanks, of course, to Heather for the incredible hard work of producing her historical synopsis every day.
This message is intended as an announcement of gratitude only. I purposely left out names and details about my characters and Plots.
There is beauty simplicity and truth in your prose. A powerful combination.
Take two days off. We on this list serv are not as important as the Oregon Historical Society presentation. You need to inspire other Historians to take up the responsibility as safe keepers of the story of the first democratic republic. We will wait for you until next Tuesday.
Rest before this next battle of understanding. Our love will still be here waiting for you. You must stay healthy and build your strength to be the witness to History as it unfolds before our eyes. You are the one who sees among the crowd who are blind to the meaning of our times.
WHAT a year it's been...it's enough to make one want to sleep for weeks. SO many people gone...SO much suffering...SO many prayers to be offered up for lives lost...SO much is owed to the people on the front lines of this tragedy. God give them strength to carry on. Sleep the good sleep of a job well done for this past year, Heather, and may all our dreams come to pass of a better year ahead.
A year? Feels like a century 😢
Bless all those who have been lost to COVID.
Rest up, Heather...it’s going to be a busy week ❤️
Professor, you reminded me of Adam Schiff's impassioned closing argument during the first Trump impeachment, a harbinger of darkness and loss we couldn't have imagined: "He has compromised our elections, and he will do so again. You will not change him. You cannot constrain him. He is who he is."
Schiff also said, "Truth matters little to him. What's right matters even less, and decency matters not at all."
If only the Senate Republicans had been persuaded. Will they now atone for their grievous error the second time around after all that's happened? And send a signal that enough is enough? Never.
We are still struggling to manage this coronavirus . In Maine our teachers who are front line workers still can not get a vaccine. Not only is the vaccine unavailable the Governor and Dr. Jha are supporting varsity sports to start. This means teams will compete with each other across the state. I am at a complete loss to understand how this takes priority over focusing on stopping the spread of this deadly disease. Twenty four states are prioritizing vaccinating teachers. We need a National plan to end this spread. Countries who have done this are fairing much better than we are.
Good morning Heather and dear subscribers. Tears are pushed back, so that I may properly thank you for being friends of care, thought, participation and learning. Letters from an American brings me to you, and Heather centers my mind as an active citizen. Today's Letter, bookended the year from early February 2020 to early February 2021, It was a call for me of mourning, sadness and turmoil. Its cover is a sunrise, so on this Sunday we absorb the year past and look to the light of a new day.
Heather,
Please consider this concept:
The defenders of Donald Trump are going to argue that the Constitution does not include the impeachment of a “former” president. That may be so, but Trump, by his own admission is not a “former” president. In fact, even his own letterhead states the it comes from the “Office of the 45th President.” In that semantic reckoning, he can be impeached as the 45th President of the United States. There is no need to argue or even conceive of a former president, he is still the 45th president of the United States. He even occupies an office that displays the emblem of the President of the United States.
I write this to you because, thankfully, you have a bigger megaphone than I.
Love you Heather.
On a different subject - with all the hand wringing about extreme views of Republicans, no one has mentioned gerrymandering as the cause of this change in our political landscape. If you make a district safe for Republicans, they will be challenged, as in any election, but not by Democrats. This forces the dialogue ever rightward, and Ms Greene is the logical result. There have been lots of schemes for mandating cohesive districts. MIT put out one that rewarded districts that were symmetrical by using a mathematical formula.
Wouldn’t it be possible to create a law saying that all districts had to conform to a certain standard, but within that parameter the States set their districts, as always. I’d love your opinion on this apparently easy and elegant solution to voter suppression, and the rightward swing of our politics.