Monthly Archives: December 2021

Are Members of the Media “Serving as Accessories to the Murder of Democracy”?

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Annie, of the “Annie Asks You” Blog, posted this essay today and I’m reblogging it. I think too many people want sensationalism and entertainment over sound government. Biden just isn’t as newsworthy as Trump because he’s too ordinary–not bigger than real life. Reality acting has become more salable than reality, selling newspapers more important than selling the truth. Rupert Murdoch has done more to tear down legitimate news reporting, both in Britain and the U.S. and to push news as an entertainment commodity than anyone I can think of. I’m afraid the future of our world has been sold to the highest bidders and they are not acting in our best interest. I hope you read Annie’s essay and respond with your own thoughts.

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The US Constitution

That’s the troubling charge that longtime Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank made in his December 3rd column. (I haven’t linked to the essay because it’s behind a firewall.)

His observations meshed with my own perceptions about why President Biden’s poll numbers fail to reflect his highly productive first year. (Yes; rising inflation is a big concern—worldwide, I might add. And though Biden’s taken steps to control it, I understand that the President “owns” the issue, and people will respond accordingly, despite other very promising signs of economic health.)

Milbank backed up his assertions with data. Here are key passages.

“Artificial intelligence can now measure the negativity with precision. At my request, Forge.ai, a data analytics unit of the information company FiscalNote, combed through more than 200,000 articles — tens of millions of words — from 65 news websites (newspapers, network and cable news, political publications, news wires…

View original post 1,498 more words

Drone Study

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Drone Study

When it comes to a crunch, you’ll find he’s not there,
for he’s sleekit and stealthy and silent as air.
Indignation won’t faze him. If you say he’s to blame,
he’ll suggest you mature and get back in the game.

He won’t give you a hand when you’re down on your luck.
He’ll just say you lack courage, endurance and pluck.
If you peel back his surface, there’s not a next layer.
All out for himself, he’s not a team player.

When it comes to friendship, he hasn’t a clue.
He’ll ask for a favor, but will he help you?
It’s not likely for when it is time to repay you,
you’ll usually find he was just out to play you.

So get rid of this fellow—this slick opportunist.
It’s best if done quickly, in fact at the soonest.
How to get shed of this ultimate jerk?
Just produce a shovel and ask him to work.

Prompt words today are sleekit, silence, crunch, indignant and mature. Image by Sammy Williams on Unsplash.

Royal Poinciana: FOTD, Dec 13, 2021

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For Cee’s FOTD

An Objective Perspective

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An Objective Perspective

Bosses who choose to use invective
might not be half so effective
as those who ask for the perspective
of other folks in their collective,
making decisions more elective.

 

Here are five word prompts Forgottenman gave me. That Turkey!!! Anyone want to play along?
The words are: invective, effective,  elective, perspective and collective. Image by Julien on Unsplash.

Sadje also chose to accept the challenge HERE is her poem.

The Arts: Wordle 531

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Click on photos to enlarge views.

The Arts

Do stories flutter round your head and brush your ears with wings?
Do words sift down like embers and ignite sparks in things?
Do crystal visions in your eyelids scare away the blues?
Do new rhythms lift your spirits and install taps on your shoes?
Do staffs of music fall like rain to shift your mode of thinking?
Fall like water from the sky until you feel you’re sinking
into overtures of gratitude for what life has been giving:
words  and music, art and dance  that make your life worth living.

 

flutter stories haunt spark lift words wing staff shift water gratitude crystal

 

For  Sunday Whirl Wordle 531

Mostly Metallic

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Click on photos to enlarge.

For Sunday Stills Challenge: Metallic Taste

First Date Optimism

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This week, the prompt words were doozies. It might help a bit to explain that the incredibly obscure word “demesne” (which is a piece of land one has sole title to) is pronounced to rhyme with “pain.” I’ll leave it up to you to determine the meaning of “whiffle” and “obfuscate” from the context in which they are used. Not my fault, folks. It was in the prompts!!!!!

First Date Optimism

You exaggerate the matter if you say I’m your demesne.
That untruthful statement is purely most insane.
What started out a whiffle, you’ve made into a gale
by weaving our first date into a fairytale.

But I must take exception to your bending of the truth.
You are not my Boaz and I am not your Ruth.
If you think I’ll marry you after our first date,
As I said in the beginning, I fear you obfuscate!!!

 

Prompt words for the day are obfuscate, except, whiffle, demesne . Image by Priscilla du Preez on Unsplash.

In Honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Her Day, Dec. 12

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As usual, click on photos to enlarge.

It is nearly 1 a.m. and the celebration down the mountain in the village of San Juan Cosala has just begun. The saint day of the Virgin of Guadalupe is the biggest celebration of the year in this town. The church is filled with flowers, bottle rockets have been going off all evening, and a band is loudly playing in the town square. This will go on all night and all of tomorrow. The pieces above were all made by me over the years, other than the one on the bottom left side. 

Hibiscus and Friend: FOTD Dec 12, 2021

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For Cee’s FOTD rerun #2
Again, another favorite of the past.