The idea of passing on to the next generation a world as good as, if not better than, the one we inherited is ensconced as a pledge in the Athenian Oath of Citizenship. It is a moral principle-- a tenet of fairness between generations. (See my research report "Deciding for the Future".) I'm not sure my generation has fulfilled its duty; we are leaving some nasty messes and mighty dysfunctional institutions. Sorry about that, kids. This article, "How My Generation Broke Americ

In response to a request from the current RappNet Administrator about its origins. I was new to the county at the time, and living up in Jenkins Hollow, bordering SNP (the home of my heart). I couldn't have started it without Mimi Cantwell, who knew how to use the primitive technology (1998! I think) to create the social medium. I started it as a ListServ, sending group emails to local people (addresses collected from various people like Hunt Harris and, I'm sure, RLEP membe

Dear Family, Health report results all good so far, and I'm feeling much better. Blood pressure normal, EKG unchanged from last year, echocardiogram is clear. My only medication is a baby aspirin a day. My annual physical exam revealed nothing of medical interest, but there was a peculiar twist. The doctor did give me a prescription: Invisible Fence. As it turns out, Lindsay, the doctor, is a dog person. More particularly, a life=long Lab person. She wasn't impressed with my

https://apple.news/AYJt0uCq4TEqcYJ9sdVFwxQ This essay in The Atlantic is very helpful, I think, suggesting that there is only one Trump scandal, with many variations and manifestations: Corruption. I remember, in the aftermath of Trump's election, being particularly disgusted to recognize that a whole new layer of corruption was going to be baked into the Presidency.. and indeed it has been thru nepotism and porous boundaries between public and private interests.. However or

Well, what else would you like to know about me? Send me three evocative questions, and I'll tell you my story. As I said, Death doesn't scare me as much as it used to. Dying is scary tho, or can be, if I imagine drowning in the ocean, for example. Many fears are by-products of our imagination. our propensity to conjure boogeymen to give form to our anxiety about an uncertain future. We can worry obsessively about the time and circumstances of our death, over which we usuall

Dear Family. I've completed the Five Wishes packet on death/dying, discussing each aspect with Alexis. So she knows my wishes, and has my medical power of attorney. I'll attach it or send it when I get it notarized. I'll go over it with my kids when they come to visit in a couple of weeks. The packet is well-designed and comprehensive, better than the usual forms and checklists. I'll also add idiosyncratic details here like 1) no memorial service per se; more informal gatheri

April 7-- I played out my string with Gracie, and overshot my limits. My enthusiasm for the training was anxiety-driven in part, and my desire for success tinged with desperation. As I recover now, I need to re-balance my life, and put a little more joy into it. As son Bayard wisely put it long ago, the key is managing expectations. I have to accept the prospect that Gracie and I might never enjoy the easy companionship that Buster and I did. She will eventually settle down,

Reminder to Self: Pay Attention. The Sun is Shining. The Breeze is Sweet. The Hound is Napping. Mellow Music Hum and Glow. At Month PG3 (Post-Gracie), recalibrating, stabilizing, recovering from Month One & Two.. We're here now. I'm still embodying the lessons learned, I suppose, in muscles and joints as well as nerves and jangled emotions. Just today I feel a shift in attitude, signaling renewal in the offing. The accumulated frustration and fatigue made me very irritable an

Welcome to our guest. Bro Mark Catron. I asked him if I could post this powerful commentary on this week's "news" in fantasy politics. We, and my sister Jenni, have been commiserating, sharing our outrage and sadness at Trump's wanton destruction and corruption of our beloved country-- great and good, as we were raised to believe. Here is Mark: .The insanity of each day surpasses the last with this evil idiot. He is running through lawyers like a man with stomach flu runs thr

5-8. Our Boss Trumpeter insulted and abused Michael Cohen for a long time before the fixer was raided. No longer useful as a shield, he's now wrung out and discarded like a used tissue. Respectable lawyers with a distaste for taint wouldn't want the job as DT's Roy Cohn, and others wouldn't admit to it. Enter Rudy Guiliani. fresh as a daisy and ready for combat. Well, he's no Roy Cohn, but he's relentless and shameless, brave in the face of slings and arrows, ready for marty