A New Word to Me

Published November 19, 2025 by Nan Mykel

Vance, is reported to be in the middle of a conflict between what’s left of the traditional Republican Party and the so-called groypers, a far-right movement of disaffected extremists whose chief representative, Nick Fuentes, is arguably America’s most prominent neo-Nazi. Here is a taste of what you might hear from Fuentes during a typical episode of his show: “Hitler is awesome. Hitler was right. And the Holocaust didn’t happen.” (See Jamelle Bouie’s opinion column tis weekend). How do you pronounce the word “groypers,” and where did the word come from? More to be found on the Internet, https://nl.nytimes.com/f/a/P_K0goAI4GjXImYMPXWu7A

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GOODBYE A.I.

(Don’t get excited: Wishful thinking on my part.. I just looked at my old copy of “Consilience” and am reminded that E. O. Wilson had faith that mankind would choose not to gamble on it. In his words, “I predict that future generations will be genetically conservative. Other than the repair of disabling defects they will resist heredity change. They will do so in order to save the emotions and epigenetic rules of mental development, because these elements compose the physical soul of the species. The reasoning is as follows: After the emotions and epigenetic rules enough, and people might in some sense be “better,” but they would no longer be human. Neutralize the elements of human nature in favor of pure rationality, and the result would be badly constructed, protein-based computers. Why sould a species give up the defining core of its existence, built by millions of years of biological trial and error? (pp 299-300 and 303).

TODAY’S REFLECTION: This isn’t Wilson speaking now, but myself reflecting on the President of the United States of America using AI to portray himself covering his citizens with his poop. Could that act function as a warning of what could become of us by our own hands/votes/use of AI?
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TO HORDE OR NOT TO HORDE?
Aye, that is the query.
Things that have carried our
load of beingness: should
we dishonor them all
by trashing? Leaving us
alone with ourselves? No!

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QUICK–Change the Subject!

Published September 29, 2025 by Nan Mykel

If I were a MAGA I’d sure welcome anything to get the spotlight off the sex ring topic. Be clear: I’m against anything to do with guns. But the idea that hunting season’s now open on Democrats instead of focusing on the Epstein connection is a little too handy….But war?!

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Is it a joke?

Marjorie Taylor Greene demands pardon for George Santos: He’s being forced to drink tap water!
“He’s only allowed to buy stamps from the commissary and is drinking water from the sink… This is torture.” {It’s difficult at times to know when she’s joking; or not.}

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URI LEARNS TO CLIMB STAIRS, brief video:

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Prison Workers Lose Union Protection:

The Federal Bureau of Prisons said that it was canceling a collective bargaining agreement with the union representing more than 30,000 prison workers.

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WHO WAS IT that said “empathy” is a dirty word?

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POEM-ETTES FROM THE PAST

War Poems — 1981

I.

They’ve banned a book in Bangor, Maine

Seems it painted Nam as too profane.

Didn’t anyone

Tell them

It was?

2.

Raggedy Andy’s gone to war

G.I. Joe bought Tonka’s

and the bombed baby milk factory

Wasn’t Willie Wonka’s.

3,

The Persian Gulf runs black with oil

Bumps in the night aint spooks

That aint wind you hear a whistlin’

Let’s hope those scuds aint nukes.

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FINIS

We blew it. The big one fell

and the world is changed.

The soft spring breeze is deadly

as it blows across

the silent fields. My God

how silent is an empty world.

The laugh’s on us but no one else

Is here to know. We blew it big.

as I paint upon my canvas these

images no one will ever see,

crying sometimes takes me by

surprise.

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WHEN ALL the head officers gather in one spot with Hegseth and Trump, will they be asked to pledge allegiance to Trump, like they did to mein fuhrer years ago? Pray. No laughing matter. Does Trump really have the key to the bomb? Time for the posturing to end.

1962 Missile Crisis

Published June 15, 2025 by Nan Mykel

I worked as the “Radio Editor” at the Atlanta Journal after graduation from UF and just before the arrival of my first child. In going through earlier papers, I came across a column from October, 1962, I’d like to share, especially since I’ve sworn off giving any coverage to you-know-who:

RADIOS ON THE STREET BUT FACES ARE SOMBER

If one didn’t know better, he might think it was still World Series time–as many people are carrying their portable radios on buses and trolleys these days. Of course there is a tenseness in their expressions that wasn’t there before, and they’re quieter. They’re listening for news they dread to hear. War.

This isn’t the first time the radio has carried somber news, of course, and it won’t be the last. But the people feel a certain urgency in this crisis. Besides, Cuba is so near…

They aren’t sure how much personal precaution should really be taken. (After all, it’s never happened here before.) It’s hard to gain a perspective on something hundreds of miles away. But for good measure, many are keeping close to their radios, especially their portables. They know that should an attack come, a battery radio would be their mainstay.

The Department of Civil Defense is telling people this, and Atlanta department stores report a run in battery-operated receivers.

CONELRAD– In the grim eventuality of an actual attack, all radio stations would ask listeners to turn to 640 or 1240 on their dials, where a Conelrad station would would keep the public informed in civil defense measures and the situation in general.

According to Major Herbert O. Connor, in charge of communications at Atlanta’s Office of Civil Defense, there are four Atlanta radio stations on the Conelrad hookup. Just which stations they are must remain a secret for security reasons. A direct line runs between the Office of Civil Defense and the Conelrad station setup, he said. The same programming would be over both frequencies, and would be continuous until the all-clear signal. Conelrad, by the way, stands for “Control of Electro-Magnetic Radiation”

EDITORIALS AND NEWS–News coverage has been stepped up by all Alanta’s radio stations. Being state-owned, WGST doesn’t editorialize, but news staffer Bill Conover says that the news staff has “doubled up” and is on duty from Sign-On to Sign-Off….WQXI’s editorials have stressed keeping calm and giving Civil Defense advice….At WAKE, bulletins are put over the air as soon as they come off the wire, “fast and furious.”…At WAOK, Jim Wood editorialized that “while the Reds were mounting their machines of war, at our back door, we were fighting over letting citizens live as true Americans. It took several thousands of troops to help one black American veteran go to school. Not all our enemies are in Cuba or Russia…And at WIIN they’re playing a harp at station breaks, but it’s been going on for years, Jim Stevenson says. It’s not meant as a commentary on current events….

WHAT/ ME WORRY?–Life went on in many ways as usual, however. There seem to be enough mundane things to do, like change diapers or wait in lines–it’s somehow reassuring. True, a few ladies who don’t read the radio column got upset when they saw the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber promotional stunt last Wednesday. They thought the plane had been attacked by Cubans. Incidentally, WAKE’s Buddy Moore and WGUN’s Dave Hill, who rode to Cincinnati, Ohio in the World War II bomber, said it would have been fun if it weren’t so cold. They flew from 12-14,000 feet up, with all the windows busted out….

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NOTE – Signing off for a few days. Basement condo flooded with water, again. Hop[ed to be in touch later. Nan

Living in the Shadow of Truth

Published June 5, 2025 by Nan Mykel

While stumbling along in Google I came across a letter in support of imigrants which I had somehow missed at the time (2017):

As religious leaders from a variety of backgrounds, we are called by our sacred texts and faith traditions to love our neighbor, accompany the vulnerable, and welcome the sojourner. War, conflict and persecution have forced people to leave their homes, creating more refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people than at any other time in history. More than 65 million people are currently displaced – the largest number in recorded history.
This nation has an urgent moral responsibility to receive refugees and asylum seekers who are in dire need of safety. Today, with more than five million Syrian refugees fleeing violence and persecution and hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties, the United States has an ethical obligation as a world leader to reduce this suffering and generously welcome Syrian refugees into our country. We call on the …. Administration and all members of the U.S. Congress to demonstrate moral leadership and affirm their support for the resettlement of refugees from all over the world to the United States. This nation has a rich history as a leader in refugee resettlement, with significant precedent, including after World War II and after the fall of Saigon, when we resettled hundreds of thousands of refugees.
It is important to recognize that the United States has the most rigorous refugee screening process in the world, involving the Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and National Counter Terrorism Center. The process includes biometric checks, medical screenings, forensic testing of documents, DNA testing for family reunification cases, and in-person interviews with highly trained homeland secure Middle Eastern refugees and our Muslim friends and neighbors. Inflammatory rhetoric has no place in our response to this humanitarian crisis. We ask our elected officials and candidates for office to recognize that new Americans of all faiths and backgrounds contribute to our economy, our community, and our congregations. Refugees are an asset to this country. They are powerful ambassadors of the American Dream and our nation’s founding principles of equal opportunity, religious freedom, and liberty and justice for all.
As people of faith, our values call us to welcome the stranger, love our neighbor, and stand with the vulnerable, regardless of their religion. We pray that in your discernment, compassion for the plight of refugees will touch your hearts. We urge you to be bold in choosing moral, just policies that provide refuge for vulnerable individuals seeking protection. Sincerely, [129] National and International Leaders

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THE AWAKENING: Flash Fiction

I had no umbrella. Sounds. They battered. The rain in torrents, my racing, stumbling footsteps splashing, slipping. Slick tires pass. Falling, I crouch, and await the inevitable arrival of my attacker. He finds me on my knees, my hair plastered to my face. It is Paul. He stands me up and draws me into his arms. Our eyes meet, and hold. Two souls. Our heartbeats reverberate against each other, chest to chest. For a moment I sense hesitation, then feel the cold metal of a knife thrust deep into my side, and awaken.

My psychiatrist is quiet, then asks, “Who is Paul?”

“I don’t know! It’s like a memory from the past, but I cannot recapture it! I would have died–did die–from it.”

A longer silence follows, then “obviously you didn’t die.”

“I wonder.”

Sorry, But…

Published May 10, 2025 by Nan Mykel

I can’t ignore all the drama surrounding the election of the new pope at the Sistine Chapel this week. I wondered about issues or prejudices that may lead to preferences or negations in the voting. Not to disrespect, but why do I keep thinking of the conclave as a fairy tale?

In my last post I wrote, …the new Pope choice? Education? Looks? Age? Behavior history? Connections? Home country? Politics? Connections? Wealth (horrors)? Race? Personal behavior? Activity on internet platform? Published work? Voice quality? Introvert or extravert? Range of facial expressions? Closeness or favoritism of Pope Francis? We’ll wait until he’s elected before trying to figure it out..

What a surprise, he was born in Chicago! What I had earlier read was that anyone from the USA was unlikely. And on the second day of the conclave and only on the fourth voting occasions! Were those flags of countries in the crowd? If so, I didn’t see a USA flag until the announcement. Maybe no one expected a cardinal from the USA to win. I like Chicago born Pope Robert Francis Prevost, Leo XIV; his demeanor and his response to the crowd’s greeting. “And they lived happily ever after?” Let’s hope. (I would have guessed Trump’s photo of himself dressed like a pope would have increased the Chicago cardinal’s chances, due to alarm. So, he appears to be shy (an introvert) and mostly liberal, except for LGBT issues in the past. ….I need to check that out.

OUR OWN BIBLE? “Welcome to the official home of the God Bless The USA Bible, the only Bible officially endorsed by Lee Greenwood and President Trump. $60 to $1000.” https://godblesstheusabible.com. Of the Trump/Greenwood bible, Esau McCaulley writes that yhr bible, n addition to being the King James version of the Bible, ‘ includes the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and part of the Lee Greenwood song God Bless the USA.” ….And the American flag, of course.

God Bless The USA Bible?

“One of the beauties of the Christian faith is that it leaps over the lines dividing countries, leading the faithful to call fellow believers from very different cultures brothers and sisters. Most of the members of this international community consist of the poor living in Africa, Asia and Latin America. There are more Spanish-speaking Christians than English-speaking ones,” From McCaulley’s column. .

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PETA FOR PEOPLE? I would not mind coming back as a human and agree to return as a monkey. but not the human monkeyman they’re wanting to create, on purpose, in the land of the tech crazed:.

There isn’t a PETA for misfits, is there, for those engineered by the normal?

BUT, a team in China revealed that they had injected human stem cells capable of creating any type of tissue into a monkey embryo. The experiment was stopped before the embryo was old enough to be born.

But the scientists – who were Spanish but held the trial in China to get around a ban on such procedures at home – said a human-monkey hybrid could have potentially been born.

_https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/human-monkey-hybrid-china-organ-transplant-stem-cells-embryo

Reblog from Keith

Published April 13, 2025 by Nan Mykel

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board member used the I word

Posted on April 13, 2025

In an article by Tom Boggioni of Raw Story, he writes about an interesting editorial from the conservative Wall Street Journal called “’It’s already in the cards’: Trump impeachment urged by WSJ editorial board member.” Here are some key paragraphs from his piece.

“In a column published late Friday, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board claimed it would be ‘desirable’ to subject Donald Trump to a third impeachment to make up for the damage he has done to the U.S. economy with his ‘ill-founded’ trade war.

According to longtime columnist Holman W. Jenkins Jr., Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff threats almost makes it appear he wants to be impeached, with Jenkins writing, ‘A future Trump impeachment seemed all but guaranteed by last Wednesday morning. It seems only slightly less likely now. It may even be desirable to restore America’s standing with creditors and trade partners.’

As he sees it, the president’s last great achievement was being re-elected in 2024, and the damage he has been creating since then belies his promise of a ‘golden age,’ so an impeachment is ‘already ion the cards.’

‘No consensus or even significant coalition exists for trying to force into existence a new American ‘golden age’ with tariffs, which anyway is like asking a chicken to give birth to a lioness. He invented this mission out of his own confused intuition,’ he accused.

Noting that conservative historian Niall Ferguson labeled Trump’s trade policy going ‘full retard,’ he contributed, ‘I go with ‘neurotic’ for the word’s wider applicability to any leader who, lacking a clear bead on his times, fabricates a gratuitously ambitious mission to meet his misguided sense of importance.’

‘Nobody in Mr. Trump’s orbit actually shares his belief in the magical efficacy of tariffs because it makes sense only in a world that doesn’t exist, where other countries don’t retaliate,’ he pointed out before concluding, ‘The founders never anticipated today’s instantly responsive trillion-dollar financial markets. And yet these markets neatly adumbrate the founders’ scheme of checks and balances, also known as feedback. Mr. Trump, still sane enough to appreciate what’s good for Mr. Trump, listened this week to their feedback.’”

Former Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellin added her criticism in The Hill:

“Former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen weighed in on the Trump administration’s trade war Friday evening, blasting President Trump’s latest roll-out of import taxes on nearly all trading partners.

‘This is the worst self-inflicted policy wound I’ve ever seen in my career inflicted on our economy,’ she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview. ‘The Trump tariff plans are doing immense damage to our economy.’”

One of the concerns I have long had is Trump has been corrected about twenty times by economists before his reelection regarding how tariffs work. He often implied that China paid for the tariffs, masking that American consumers paid the tariffs after importers passed along the cost. As late as October of last year at an economics conference, he had a hard time articulating how tariffs work. To be brutally frank, the only surprise to me is how quickly the Trump tariffs have harmed our financial reputation. –Keith is at musingsofanoldfart.wordpress.com

Keith on April 13, 2025 at 10:18 pm :Note to Readers: In a Bloomberg interview on October 15, 2024 with Editor in Chief John Micklethwait, the portion on tariffs is noted in a Rolling Stone article: “Trump gets schooled on tariffs. The central pillar of Trump’s economic plan is widespread tariffs on all imported goods, with penalties appearing to increase depending on how much he dislikes the country. Economists have warned that such a policy could have devastating effects on American consumers, who would be saddled with increased costs for all imported goods. When questioned about the specifics of his plan, and if he was aware of its pitfalls, Trump seemed ignorant of basic economic principles, insisting that other countries, not American consumers, would pay for the tariffs…

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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Whatever Happened to the Lie Detector Machine?

Published July 5, 2024 by Nan Mykel

I know, I know–liars got too good at out-maneuvering them. But wouldn’t it be great if fact-checking could be speed of lightning, during debates?

BIDEN DID GET THROUGH three different points in discussing most topics in the Debate, but the childish faces made by the ex-president posed great difficulty in attending to President Biden’s words. The distraction was incredible. Trump must have prepped long hours for the debate in front of a mirror–Or has his face just grown that way, as mothers often warn.?_______________

DEAR HEARTS — It was earlier known that Navy Seals who died of suicide had brain damage, but the results were not shared with the Seals.

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Supreme Court upholds ban on sleeping outdoors in homelessness case: nothing new there: LOCK EM UP! LOCK EM UP!

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WHERE do elephants most likely get their apparent names from? Google, in reporting: “their Moms.”

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ALTHOUGH NOT MY FAVORITE ENDEAVOR…

Our two stranded…hopefully temporarily…spacepersons pull at my heartstrings. No, the powers that be say they’re not stranded, only…”What was supposed to be roughly a week-long test flight to the ISS is now probably going to last months, as NASA and Boeing continue to delay Starliner’s return to Earth. They say they want to better understand a series of technical issues the spacecraft experienced since launching June 5 on its first crewed test flight to space.

–Bloomberg

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SIMILAR EMPATHIC EMOTIONS are felt regarding the Biden Democratic election situation. And as for the Supreme Court, my recent experience on almost all fronts with dishonesty has me shamefully wondering if a Supreme Court judge has hopes of running as Trump’s vice president.

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LIBERTY?

The cries for Liberty by those against covid mask wearing appear to be inaccurate. As discussed in a Time article this month, The “modern fixation on ‘give me liberty’ as a license for unbounded personal freedom is a historic lie, and symptomatic of a broader problem. The freedom that patriots fought for was not a ticket to do whatever one wanted, but the right to participate in a community that governed itself.” –The True Meaning of “Give Me Liberty” by John Ragosta:Time 7/15/24

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A NEW CLIMATE CHANGE WORRY?

Severe turbulence on an Air Europa flight to Uruguay from Spain on Monday injured more than two dozen passengers, officials said, leaving several with neck and skull fractures, in at least the second case of severe injuries from turbulence worldwide in two months. —

A Fair Subject?

Published October 16, 2022 by Nan Mykel

What’s Fair? Herschel Walker’s diagnosis: Folks are rightly jumpy about avoiding mental health stigmatization, but what if it’s incurable and he wants your vote in a possibly catastrophic election? I couldn’t find much about Herschel Walker’s mental diagnosis, other than Dissociative Identity Disorder (which is treatable and he has owned in the past). More troubling–just facts, no stigmatization intended–is an article in Science back in 2017 (https://www.science.org/content/article/ninety-nine-percent-ailing-nfl-player-brains-show-hallmarks-neurodegenerative-disease). Walker maintains that his dissociative disorder diagnosis no longer fits, but then he is currently quoted as saying he’s against the climate change idea because he doesn’t need more trees. A recent suggestion was written by Isheka N. Harrison in the May 30, 2022 issue of Moguldom.com::

People are inquiring about the mental health of Republican Georgia senate candidate Herschel Walker after his response when asked his opinion on the second-worst school shooting in recent American history. Some have suggested the former NFL icon has chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a degenerative brain disease more commonly known as CTE. After 21 people were murdered by a gunman at a Texas school on May 24 – including 19 children and two teachers – Walker was asked about his stance on gun control. He said that “It’s the person wielding that weapon. You know Cain killed Abel,” Walker shared his view during an interview with Fox News, referencing the biblical story in which one brother killed another over jealousy.

One refreshing opinion has been expressed by the Rude Poet@rudepoet.com, to wit: “The exploitation of obviously brain-damaged Herschel Walker by the GOP is one of the most cynical political gambits I’ve seen in a long timer.”

Real Issues…

Published September 22, 2021 by Nan Mykel

are not getting discussed enough

Keith (musings of an old fart)

writes that…

It amazes me how so much time can be spent on created wedge issues for political gain and so little on real ones.

The global (and US) water crisis and need for accelerated climate change action are key environmental issues per the World Economic Forum. And, the latter makes the former concern even worse. These are not future problems as they are harming us now.

Investing in deteriorated infrastructure while also reducing the US deficit and debt are at odds, but both are needed. So we must be judicious with spending cuts and revenue increases, as both are needed to solve the math problem. And, too many of our infrastructure needs are ten years overdue.

And, we must stop this degradation of civil rights that were long fought for. Attacking the right to vote under the guise of staged and unproven election fraud claims is abhorrent in the eyes of this independent and former Republican (and Democrat) voter and should be in the eyes of more elected officials.

Nan says: My heart goes out to Biden for all the leftovers he is dealing with.