Tag: politics

My family and the Kennedys

Wow.  Fifty years.

JFK in state at WH
President Kennedy’s body lies in state in the East Room of the White House on November 23rd, 1963. His honor guard in this photo includes one member of each of the five armed services. His coffin rests on the same bier that held President Abraham Lincoln’s coffin in 1865.

It’s hard to describe the relationship I have had with a President who died before I was born, or the way that relationship was shaped even as I grew up in Alabama.  But there was, and still is, a relationship.  It led me to make  speeches in high school that evoked Kennedy’s own speeches on public service.  It led me to defend JFK vigorously even when I was still a dumb young Reagan Republican.  And it led me to make a point of visiting his grave at Arlington when I finally had the opportunity on a class trip.  Where I wept.

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It’s not about strength or bravery

Regular visitors around here may have noticed that it’s been quiet for a while.  Sometimes life gets in the way and we can’t post, I’m sure you all understand.  Sometimes life hands you great material for posting and the first thought one of us has it, “that’ll make such a good post!”  Then we might go days without such inspiration.

Then sometimes life kicks you in the teeth and there just isn’t anything to say.  That’s what’s been happening lately.

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Suddenly, I wish I could “like” something on Facebook

Anyone who’s a regular reader around here knows that Geoff and I are not on Facebook.  Today I ran across something on the Huffington Post that made me wish that I could actually like or upvote it or whatever it is you do on Facebook.  Get out the tissues, folks, this one is horrible and amazing all at the same time.

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Welcome, October

Ok, so it’s October 1st.  The Federal Government has effectively shut down.  Open enrollment for the ACA has started, but the website isn’t working.  In fact, until about 11:00am this morning, the MA iteration of the website didn’t even reflect that open enrollment for people looking for ACA healthcare effective 1/1/14 had begun.

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Big egos and bad economics

The current debate over who should be replacing Ben Bernanke at the Federal Reserve should be a no-brainer, if you base it solely on abilities and sound judgment.  There is no good reason why President Obama shouldn’t appoint Janet Yellen.  But there is a lot of resistance to it anyway, and I imagine a lot of it is from the people who would rather see Larry Summers in the position.

Personally, I can’t believe people still take Larry Summers seriously.

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A New Storm Naming System Proposal

I am a bit of a weather geek, and a history geek, and sometimes a weather history geek.  But you knew that already.

So anyway, I heard about this interesting proposal to change the naming system for hurricanes, and I certainly appreciate the sentiment.

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A lesson in contrasts

I think it is safe to say that the march of human rights has made steady though inconsistent progress over the last 100+ years. In the last 48 hours some interesting stories have popped up that have reminded me not only of how far we’ve come but also of how far we have to go.

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