skipper

  • In this post mariner promotes two books. The first one is a sociological view of American behavior particularly as it relates to how Americans have changed how they socialize. The second is by a memorable US […]

  • When mariner moved to his current residence in a small Iowa town, he noticed that many families had leaf blowers. It is also true that town families have affection for any kind of two cycle engine some of which […]

  • Mariner watched the NetworkKnowledge (PBS) broadcast of Neil Diamond’s concert performed in 2012 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Mariner and his wife are big fans back to the time they saw him on te […]

    • Even back to the good old days of 2012 is a time warp. We have been travelling at warp speed since 2016–every day a new reason for angst. This essay is a wonderful tribute to the power of Neil Diamond’s music to transport us. Maybe what we all need is more music in our lives–and more poetry, more nature, and more friendship.

  • Regular readers will know that mariner’s favorite magazine is The Atlantic (TA). He has added a few to his personal library. There are several other magazines in its class that provide cogent insights in the s […]

  • Mariner finds it difficult to ascertain actual news from ramblings, speculations and gossip on all the 24 hour news channels. He has borrowed a formula from geometry to help identify the true news content from the […]

  • Well, well. Wasn’t the fur flying because young mariner had no traffic ticket for his accident. An entire article about compassion as the root of democracy was trashed because mariner did not get a ticket. So m […]

  • Mariner was a young lad, well, not really young, he had progressed a bit in his career and was working as a staff consultant assisting all state law enforcement agencies in complying with new Federal regulations […]

    • Law enforcement looks after its own??? Is that entirely fair–or legal? I know that is not the point of the essay, but that is another aspect of belonging. If you don’t belong, because you are not the right tribe (or color) it is hard to experience
      that sense of oneness. But–I do not want to discourage mariner in his good feelings about our neighbors and our nation!

  • Mariner is on a holiday break, that is, current news is not an item of interest. Rather, he has taken his own advice from his last post: take a break. Nevertheless, one has curiosity about things – perhaps more s […]

  • A bit of serenity can be felt in the weather. Thanksgiving is one of those holidays that embrace ‘the way we were’ to steal lyrics from Barbra. Since the 2016 campaign, which actually started early in 2015, it’ […]

  • Mariner has one comment on the results of the 2018 midterm elections:

    Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate to 51+ seats — even though 10 million more people voted for Senate Democrats than for R […]

  • Mariner mentioned that he took a trip recently to visit friends and family. He has been traveling the Pennsylvania Turnpike for many, many, many years. Do any readers remember the service stops alongside the […]

    • Can Mariner imagine another scenario for the future of mankind? We are in the stress of transition here, but it does not mean that things will necessarily devolve. Just as an exercise, I would like to read mariner’s version of a possible good future. The future is all in our imagination anyway. Might just as well be a happy place!

  • Mariner grows disinterested after hearing hour after hour day and night the same statistics, speculations and campaign ads intent on assassinating the character of the other candidate. Today he focused on the rest […]

  • According to mariner’s favorite bookie Nate Silver, “Republican chances of holding the House are only about 1 in 1,000.” He is not as kind to Democrats taking the Senate: only 1 in 6 (16%)

    The imminent elect […]

  • National Public Radio (NPR) is launching a new newsletter all about China. When reading the first reports, it became blatantly obvious to mariner that China, while a communist state, also is an aggressive […]

  • skipper wrote a new post, FYI 6 years, 2 months ago

    Tidbits from mariner’s email:

    ֎60 percent of vertebrate species

    According to a new report from the World Wide Fund For Nature (formerly the World Wildlife Fund), there has been an average 60 percent de […]

  • In the era of the Kennedys, the mood of the nation leaned toward humanism. Then the shootings took place wiping out three major leaders of that mood. Had Bobby won the Presidency, perhaps the Vietnam War could have been handled differently but the war took the lead in the nation’s mood and instead of further progress toward humanist policy, the y…[Read more]

  • No way, Jose: Like many expensive cities, San Jose, California, is struggling to keep its teachers. Of the 1,400 classroom teachers employed by the San Jose Unified School District, one in seven have to be […]

    • Your description of an ideal school environment is almost exactly what I learned in education classes 40 years ago. It describes the environment and philosophy of the first school where I was a media specialist (now called teacher librarians.) What happened along the way? I think it was Reaganomics, but I’m not sure. No Child Left Behind was part of it, too. I wonder if the NEA agreed with these trends or just went along because there was no choice.

    • In the era of the Kennedys, the mood of the nation leaned toward humanism. Then the shootings took place wiping out three major leaders of that mood. Had Bobby won the Presidency, perhaps the Vietnam War could have been handled differently but the war took the lead in the nation’s mood and instead of further progress toward humanist policy, the young people took to burning draft cards, bras, rioted at the 1968 Democratic Convention, and moved to Canada. Conservatives and establishment folks elected Reagan to restore law and order. Ideas that you experienced as a librarian teacher disappeared.

  • Theologically speaking, mariner believes there are so many people alive today that God has arranged to have some of us live longer so God has time to process purgatory before we die instead of afterward. For […]

  • Guru speculated about China’s Belt and Road Initiative (in China more often referred to as One Belt One Road or OBOR). Very generally, Belt and Road is China’s plan to be the most powerful economic engine in his […]

  • In what was a disturbing interview on PBS NewsHour between Judy Woodruff and Larry Merlo (CVS CEO), Judy pressed Merlo several times about how the merger will benefit individuals. Continually, Merlo ducked that […]

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