3 Ring Binder

Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio was recently a guest on the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. If you can convince the voters that you’re on their side it makes all the difference in the world. Political party matters less to voters; ideology matters less. Are you on our side when it comes to Wall St.? Are you on our side when it comes to drug prices? Are you on our side when it comes to trade rules, and tax laws, and all of that? As Sherrod Brown attempted to gather his tribes against the big, bad, money makers, Ms. Maddow seemed to lead the guest in talking points. More striking to me, however, was that after speaking the name of Senator Brown's opponent (who is equal to Mr. Brown in his lack of principles, I imagine) and adding a "dot com" at the end of it, in the interest of fairness,  the host then said this: Of course, he’s always welcome here as a guest on this show and then looked into the camera through her eyebrows . I think she'll give him a fair hearing...

In the spirit of looking on the bright side, here are three good things I made note of as I walked home from the building where I locked my purse, keys, and phone inside an otherwise empty theatre, realizing only after I checked the remote mailbox that the keys in my hand were not my real keys, but merely the mailbox keys, and that the extra precautions I took to make sure the door locked behind me to save said real keys, purse, and phone from the marauding band of thieves in that building was actually a BAD idea. And the worst part? The mailbox was empty! Now onto the promised good things .     I live less than two miles away from said building. It was a lovely day. Just earlier today I had noticed children riding bikes in a makeshift sidewalk over the overpass spanning the highway between my house and the building.    

Sleep shop to mad scientist to convertible houses.  One question: Why are the kids in the front seat when the mother is in the back? Okay, one more: Do you think Dr. Laird is medicated? I'll have to try that forehead wrinkle remover exercise.

Choosing words carefully not to offend, Giving less weight to ideas than intend, Dancing past meaning so each can pretend, Conflict semantics - not decisive end. Calling on memories when thoughts had merged, Sharing and daring, relationship surged, Prickly points poked but were too quickly purged, Dearer than different - tolerance urged. Teetering tenuous bridge of false hold, Wanting to save what appeared to be gold, Letting go one end and watching it fold; Realized in rubble, disvalues all told. Fearing once fondness forever then lost, Hiking the hit by remitting the cost, Cabled connections since tease to be tossed. Wreckage is wrought from fragility not frost. Slated with shallow words cried round the lands, Fated, one tower falls in spite of hands. Sounded lone truth, one reality bands, Founded on bedrock, that fortress still stands.

What happens when the heavy hand of over-regulation conflicts with the forceful push of subsidized industry? When the first is the preservation of the very symbol of America and the second is the current Administration's love affair with "clean" energy development -- the eagle buys it . “These proposed changes will help facilitate the responsible development of renewable energy and other projects, while conserving bald and golden eagles by requiring key conservation and monitoring measures to be implemented,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “We are committed to monitoring the impact of projects on eagle populations over the life of the permits to ensure these measures are effective.” From what I gather in the supporting documents *, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has some avian protection policies that are onerous on those trying to develop clean energy projects.  Therefore, the permits allowing a "non-purposeful take" of eagles are go...

“ What some of us want—those who aren’t blinded by a lot of bullshit persiflage thrown up to mask the idea that   rich folks want to keep their damn money —is for you to acknowledge that you couldn’t have made it in America   without  America. ” I found this statement to be the best in Stephen King’s recent diatribe . And what, pray tell, is it that Mr. King thinks makes America, America ? According to his essay he touts the equalization of income wrapped in a sash of fairness regarding income tax: rich people should pay more taxes because they are rich. This bears an eerie resemblance of “ from each according to his ability, to each according to his need ,” rather than what I understand to be essentially American: the right to one's own  life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; equal under the law.   I’m afraid that in addition to many f-bombs, Mr. King has dropped the context. I can't comment on the tax code itself, because ...

It is an internal conflict as old as romance itself: a fascinating woman walks into your life on the arm of a friend.  The more you get to know the woman, the more you think about her – and him – and how she looks at him; you become jealous.  Because you are friends with the man, you try to normalize your feelings for the woman and act as if nothing has changed between you. You evade your feelings for her until her adulation and hardly hidden passion for your friend breaks through your façade. Hurt, you rationalize your own ardor away, helped by her strong indications that your feelings are unrequited. Then you begin to question your own lovability? Didn't you do everything right? Aren't you every bit as desirable as your friend? Why doesn't she love you? What is the answer to this seemingly unanswerable problem? It's simple, really.  You write a pop song. You use an obscure word in one of the verses. Your conflict becomes immortalized and screamed by ...