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All posts by Nan Mykel

TO THINK OR JUST DO?

Published April 11, 2025 by Nan Mykel

It seems like a reasonable question, but of course it depends on the context. Best yet might be to think and then do. I became curious when I read that Trump promised he would use instinct to finally re-decide his tariff position.

According to reports, during his earlier term Trump showed little interest in the White House’s daily briefings. What does his heavy litany of lies reflect? A preference for instinct versus thinking or does he get them mixed up? Do his emotions light fuses that must be acted out? Has he never had psychotherapy or the chance for a heated Gestalt dialogue with his inner “pig parent?” Not for the first time I wonder if he never had a beloved pet growing up.

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MY SISTER ALLISON’S BIRTHDAY — There were photos of her on last year’s blog, but I’m still stuck on page one of Gutenberg. (I’ve gone deaf so am losing it between the ears.) Just wanted to remember the lovely one who passed back in 1983:: :Allison Buckman “Nikki” Bassett Manning (1942-1983): Birth: 11 Apr 1942. Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, USA. Death: 13 Apr 1983 (aged 41).  From Find a Grave, which includes a photo of her. She is remembered with love.

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AGAIN, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?

Trump administration cuts funding and staff for flagship climate report–as he orders expansion of the industry: On Tuesday he signed four executive orders designed to boost the U.S. coal industry, outlining steps to protect coal-fired power plants and expedite leases for coal mining on U.S. land. But in touting the benefits of coal, he misrepresented several aspects of its safety and use.

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HIDING CLIMATE ANXIETY

The administration announced it is cutting nearly $4 million in federal funding for climate change research at Princeton University, saying that the work promoted “exaggerated and implausible climate threats” and increased “climate anxiety” among young Americans.. —NY Times’ Climate Forward

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Halloo, GOD! Over Here!

Published April 4, 2025 by Nan Mykel

There’s a deadly virus going around in the United States,, and it is called “Greed.” I was reminded of the word in a reblog on Keith Wilson’s post recently. But I’m still learning Gutenberg so I’m still using page one only, so you’ll have to go fish on Keith Wilson’s blog…

FYI, I’ve been living pillar to post from the day after the eclipse til March 8, when my son-in-law came from Atlanta and worked on additional repairs. Now, in the process of trying to empty 3 storage units, I’ve had to go through more early material, some of which is sort of different, but may be of interest at the risk of being seen as bragging…

To the Tune of My Home Town by Tom Lehrer:

There’s a lady to whom I’ve taken a fancy

who used to be called Nancy

but now is known simply as Nan Mykel.

Oh the pain she has taken us through

learning our addictive cycle.

I really have a yen

to have her lead Phoenix again.

It won’t be the same without our Doctor Nan

for what she has taught us about levels of denial.

We each consider ourself her biggest fan

Remember SAFE?

Tells us if we have an addiction

but if we suffer from this affliction

all is not lost.

We only need to poison our fantasies

and nightly turn a thought’s kernel

into a twelve-page journal.

We’ve learned about SUD’s and Dangerous situations,

abstinence and Failed Expectations–

Early Warning Signs, had our Thinking Errors upended

It’s a pity we didn’t learn all of this

before we offended.

As you begin your retirement

and enter a new environment

there is really no requirement

to keep in touch.

But please do, dear Doctor Nan

We will miss you so much….

[Interesting, but inappropriate for this blog…Sorry]

I Had a Dream…

Published March 29, 2025 by Nan Mykel

No, make that a nightmare.

In it the whole world had turned inside out. Good things had soured–no, make that rotted. Good, trusted people had turned into sadists playing internet games. Had I gone crazy or had/has the world?

And who was I asking? What was in store for the United States if Trump had lost? We’ll never know. I hope. What a backdoor way to grieve did I give myself!…

While writing the above, I looked up “Baal” on Google and read the following lines (after many more):

I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying: “Know the LORD”

“Good Night Irene”: An item in today’s news (or was that the nightmare?) refers to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Lee Zeldin: “Over the past nine weeks, Mr. Zeldin has withheld billions of dollars in climate funds approved by Congress, tried to fire hundreds of employees, recommended the elimination of thousands more E.P.A. scientists, and started trying to repeal dozens of environmental regulations that limit toxic pollution.” — nytimes Climate Change post.

Black is Beautiful?

Published March 27, 2025 by Nan Mykel

Dark, black, shadowy…Do those words have the same negative connotations in Africa? How and when did that happen? I feel kinda guilty when I use “dark” in writing or speaking. Spooky, shadowy… I can’t sing Ole Black Joe, which was a favorite in childhood, before I knew “better.”

When a family stayed with us in Atlanta, on its way to Washington on the Mule Train, (a protest march in case you don’t remember) the daughters encircled my red-headed daughter, remarking enviously on how “bright” she was.

Well, I’ve had my say for the day. I don’t dare to go to page 2 of the mandated Gutenberg printer…. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Yeah, “dog” has picked up negative aspersions, too. Oh….I forgot about “old!”

INCIDENTALLY…

Published March 27, 2025 by Nan Mykel

We were unprepared for Covid in 2020, but 5 years later we have undergone the reverse of the learning process in dealing with a pandemic. We have frayed rather than undergone repair. What remains is a selfish, antisocial mood that is perhaps the most pervasive feature of our time: the Covid Era. More on “Our Long Covid” in the April issue of The Nation by Jeet Heer.

Thanks to those who received my previous post in Classic

Published March 24, 2025 by Nan Mykel

However, that didn’t last.  What will page one of Gutenberg look like today?

 

 

Rattlesnake Bite

Published March 21, 2025 by Nan Mykel

There; did that get your attention? I’m not playing around. I’m trying to make up for not doing my part to sound the alarm about the disintegration of our country. When I began to read the text of his video, I wondered where this nut was going, but now that I’ve studied his entire alarm message I am ashamed of my relative silence. Sure I’ll be ninety Septembr 15, but that’s no excuse not to make an effort.

It’s the longest column I’ve ever read, and maybe you want to copy it to reflect over it sufficiently, again.

I’m so glad we can access and share it without a paywall… Apologies to the author for my first suspecting he was a nut. I may be, but he’s not: Greg Olear https://gregolear.substack.com/p/ramble-on-this-is-all-totally-normal?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share

Wish I’d Written This:

Published March 19, 2025 by Nan Mykel

My own heart was in turmoil. It is not easy to tread the line of empathy, to feel passion for both sides….There is a limit to which the human soul can stomach human atrocities and keep going. On the other hand. On the other hand, turning away from from distressing footage taken by Hamas terrorists, by surveillance cameras, and by people running for their lives or sheltering from missiles meant turning away away from their pain. I couldn’t do it…

The above is by Joanna Chen, a British-born writer and literary translator and resident of Israel. I regret not having captured the reference.

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