counsel from an earlier time...

... not quite sure where or when or who, but this snippet of an earlier American etiquette floats to mind:

...AND IF YOU MUST SPIT, SPIT IN THE CORNER

who's a liberal?

Passed along in email:
January 24 at 5:41 AM

“I'm a liberal, but that doesn't mean what a lot of you apparently think it does. Let's break it down, shall we? Because quite frankly, I'm getting a little tired of being told what I believe and what I stand for. Spoiler alert: not every liberal is the same, though the majority of liberals I know think along roughly these same lines:
1. I believe a country should take care of its weakest members. A country cannot call itself civilized when its children, disabled, sick, and elderly are neglected. PERIOD.
2. I believe healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Somehow that's interpreted as "I believe Obamacare is the end-all, be-all." This is not the case. I'm fully aware that the ACA has problems, that a national healthcare system would require everyone to chip in, and that it's impossible to create one that is devoid of flaws, but I have yet to hear an argument against it that makes "let people die because they can't afford healthcare" a better alternative. I believe healthcare should be far cheaper than it is, and that everyone should have access to it. And no, I'm not opposed to paying higher taxes in the name of making that happen.
3. I believe education should be affordable. It doesn't necessarily have to be free (though it works in other countries so I'm mystified as to why it can't work in the US), but at the end of the day, there is no excuse for students graduating college saddled with five- or six-figure debt.
4. I don't believe your money should be taken from you and given to people who don't want to work. I have literally never encountered anyone who believes this. Ever. I just have a massive moral problem with a society where a handful of people can possess the majority of the wealth while there are people literally starving to death, freezing to death, or dying because they can't afford to go to the doctor. Fair wages, lower housing costs, universal healthcare, affordable education, and the wealthy actually paying their share would go a long way toward alleviating this. Somehow believing that makes me a communist.
5. I don't throw around "I'm willing to pay higher taxes" lightly. If I'm suggesting something that involves paying more, well, it's because I'm fine with paying my share as long as it's actually going to something besides lining corporate pockets or bombing other countries while Americans die without healthcare.
6. I believe companies should be required to pay their employees a decent, livable wage. Somehow this is always interpreted as me wanting burger flippers to be able to afford a penthouse apartment and a Mercedes. What it actually means is that no one should have to work three full-time jobs just to keep their head above water. Restaurant servers should not have to rely on tips, multibillion-dollar companies should not have employees on food stamps, workers shouldn't have to work themselves into the ground just to barely make ends meet, and minimum wage should be enough for someone to work 40 hours and live.
7. I am not anti-Christian. I have no desire to stop Christians from being Christians, to close churches, to ban the Bible, to forbid prayer in school, etc. (BTW, prayer in school is NOT illegal; *compulsory* prayer in school is - and should be - illegal). All I ask is that Christians recognize *my* right to live according to *my* beliefs. When I get pissed off that a politician is trying to legislate Scripture into law, I'm not "offended by Christianity" -- I'm offended that you're trying to force me to live by your religion's rules. You know how you get really upset at the thought of Muslims imposing Sharia law on you? That's how I feel about Christians trying to impose biblical law on me. Be a Christian. Do your thing. Just don't force it on me or mine.
8. I don't believe LGBT people should have more rights than you. I just believe they should have the *same* rights as you.
9. I don't believe illegal immigrants should come to America and have the world at their feet, especially since THIS ISN'T WHAT THEY DO (spoiler: undocumented immigrants are ineligible for all those programs they're supposed to be abusing, and if they're "stealing" your job it's because your employer is hiring illegally). I believe there are far more humane ways to handle undocumented immigration than our current practices (i.e., detaining children, splitting up families, ending DACA, etc).
10. I don't believe the government should regulate everything, but since greed is such a driving force in our country, we NEED regulations to prevent cut corners, environmental destruction, tainted food/water, unsafe materials in consumable goods or medical equipment, etc. It's not that I want the government's hands in everything -- I just don't trust people trying to make money to ensure that their products/practices/etc. are actually SAFE. Is the government devoid of shadiness? Of course not. But with those regulations in place, consumers have recourse if they're harmed and companies are liable for medical bills, environmental cleanup, etc. Just kind of seems like common sense when the alternative to government regulation is letting companies bring their bottom line into the equation.
11. I believe our current administration is fascist. Not because I dislike them or because I can’t get over an election, but because I've spent too many years reading and learning about the Third Reich to miss the similarities. Not because any administration I dislike must be Nazis, but because things are actually mirroring authoritarian and fascist regimes of the past.
12. I believe the systemic racism and misogyny in our society is much worse than many people think, and desperately needs to be addressed. Which means those with privilege -- white, straight, male, economic, etc. -- need to start listening, even if you don't like what you're hearing, so we can start dismantling everything that's causing people to be marginalized.
13. I am not interested in coming after your blessed guns, nor is anyone serving in government. What I am interested in is the enforcement of present laws and enacting new, common sense gun regulations. Got another opinion? Put it on your page, not mine.
14. I believe in so-called political correctness. I prefer to think it’s social politeness. If I call you Chuck and you say you prefer to be called Charles I’ll call you Charles. It’s the polite thing to do. Not because everyone is a delicate snowflake, but because as Maya Angelou put it, when we know better, we do better. When someone tells you that a term or phrase is more accurate/less hurtful than the one you're using, you now know better. So why not do better? How does it hurt you to NOT hurt another person?
15. I believe in funding sustainable energy, including offering education to people currently working in coal or oil so they can change jobs. There are too many sustainable options available for us to continue with coal and oil. Sorry, billionaires. Maybe try investing in something else.
16. I believe that women should not be treated as a separate class of human. They should be paid the same as men who do the same work, should have the same rights as men and should be free from abuse. Why on earth shouldn’t they be?
I think that about covers it. Bottom line is that I'm a liberal because I think we should take care of each other. That doesn't mean you should work 80 hours a week so your lazy neighbor can get all your money. It just means I don't believe there is any scenario in which preventable suffering is an acceptable outcome as long as money is saved.”

LIBERAL

time is a convenience

Now and then, as now, after a nice meal of beef and rice and lima beans, I bask and glimmer like some piece of volcanic glass. I am almost 80 and eight is one of my numbers. What does it mean that it is "mine?" I don't know, but it is shiny and not yet really proud. Somehow it bristles quietly and black.

Time snickers forward and back in pinholes of brightness cast by a dancehall ball above the swooping herd. The gas station attendant appears in the driver's side wineshield and spits idly in the driver's face, the better to clean the random bug guts collected along a cross-country road. These days spit might be frowned-upon -- "nowadays," a time when a million solutions running hither and yon in search of an unnecessary problem.

Now-a-days. Then-a-days.

Time of time.

Time is a convenience, not yet a fact.

coronavirus/Spanish Flu

Coronavirus 'could infect 60% of global population if unchecked'

Exclusive: Public health epidemiologist says other countries should consider adopting China-style containment measures

Coronavirus – latest updates -- The Guardian

Spanish Flu 1918

Am I the only one sitting here wondering when -- if ever -- anyone is going to mention the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918 -- an outbreak that by some estimates took a third of the world's population despite widespread efforts to keep its ravages under wraps?

The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, the deadliest in history, infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet's population—and killed an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims, including some 675,000 Americans.

From where I sit, the current coronavirus sprang (as from Zeus' head) up in the midst of the impeachment of the U.S. president, a mishmash of presidential primary kerfuffle, a question which lies Donald Trump will wholesale today .... where did the coronavirus come from all bright-eyed-and-bushy-tailed?

It seemed to come to light out of China (which isn't usually a bright lamp of transparency) where the rulers had to concede that last weekend's Chinese New Year travels (usually enormous) had been stymied, streets were emptied and everyone seemed to be wearing a mask.

milti-tasking is bullshit

... and the sooner you learn it, the sooner you'll get one thing done right.

being right

Being right is a good thing, but it is not the only thing.

overdose credo

... if one's good, two's better.

discredited conovirus doctor slain by disease

BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese doctor who got in trouble with authorities in the communist country for sounding an early warning about the coronavirus outbreak died Friday after coming down with the illness.

The Wuhan Central Hospital said on its social media account that Dr. Li Wenliang, a 34-year-old ophthalmologist, was “unfortunately infected during the fight against the pneumonia epidemic of the new coronavirus infection.”

“We deeply regret and mourn this,” it added.

a small question

True or false?

EPISCOPALIAN DISTANCES

mobile homes

Is it just my watching of too many TV ads or is it true that the push for people to buy mobile homes/trailer homes is on the rise ... in some apparent segue from "micro homes," the she-she building of 7-900 square-foot tiny houses ... and this by turn in the wake of real estate prices rising and rising across the country?

Living in an affordable house is no easy matter for someone trying to find somewhere to live.

Makes me free-associate to nobles and peasants.

Unpack the messages...?

Unpack the messages....?

Named after the famous folk song which translates as The Cockroach, La Cucaracha is an exhibition of new photographs by South African artist Pieter Hugo exploring death, sexuality and spirituality in Mexico
Pieter Hugo: La Cucaracha is at Huxley-Parlour Gallery, London, from 19 February to 14 March.
All pictures © Pieter Hugo