January 21, 2014

Wolf Moon. It is nearly the full moon and when I returned to Breckenridge I stepped out on the condo balcony and listened for any local coyotes. Alas, the valley is too densely populated, even the upper slopes. Their playful nighttime howling is one of the things I miss from more rural Alma.

Net Neutrality. Until the US Appeals Court for the District of Columbia Circuit Court's decision (January 15^th), this was a topic not much heard in the mainstream media, too “geeky!” Now, however, more connected, but not totally tech savvy Americans have been introduced to the concept; some are even wondering what this might mean for their online habits. This Guardian article is just one of many available on the subject. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/14/net-neutrality-internet-fcc-verizon-court

Health care costs. The link below is just one of many that report on increased health care costs. All of this should come as no surprise to healthcare consumers who realize what “for profit” means. http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/15/medical-price-gouging/

The legacies of WW I for the modern world. Historians, professional and amateur, continue to be fascinated the “War to End All Wars,” especially with 2014 bringing the 100^th anniversary of the that fateful day in Sarajevo. Fifteen legacies are delineated in this linked Guardian story. Here is the list, first in alphabetical order, then the order from the article. Blood banks (12); christian democracy (14); conscription (3); decline of aristocracy (13); filmed propaganda (7); gas warfare (1); middle east legacy (6); modern surgery (11); nation states (10); pacifism (5); planned economy (9); shell shock [PTSD] (2); war technology (4); women's emancipation (15); workers of the world (8)

     Here is the list from the article: gas warfare; shell shock, PTSD; conscription; war technology; pacifism; middle east legacy; filmed propaganda; workers of the world; planned economy; nation states; modern surgery; blood banks; decline of aristocracy; christian democracy; women's emancipation.

     A few of these legacies are quite noble (blood banks, modern surgery, women's emancipation); others notably less so (christian democracy, conscription; middle east legacy); some truly horrible (gas warfare, PTSD, war technology). http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/15/firstworldwar

NSA and spying on ourselves. Alexander Hamilton wrote: “Nothing is more common than for a free people, in times of heat and violence, to gratify momentary passions by letting into government principles and precedents which afterwards prove fatal to themselves.”

The 114^th congress will be further diminished. Senator Tom Coburn (R, OK) has announced he will retire two years early, at the end of this congressional session.

He managed for a long time with a triple threat -- colon and prostate cancer and a benign brain tumor...[and will] spend the time he has left with his three children and seven grandchildren. It may be one of the only times when a politician says he wants to spend more time with his family and we know it is utterly the truth. Coburn has always had a gift for honesty. He didn't need consultants to tell him how to be a senator. He had the white hair, all-American accent and a doctor's wisdom of life and death, his vocation before politics.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-17/tom-coburn-leaves-a-lonely-place-lonelier.html?alcmpid=view

The changing political environment in Washington. Use the link below to find out why several retiring members of the 113^th Congress have really decided not to stand for re-election. There is no easy answer; rather, it is the overall mood in the capitol that has so changed and led to their ultimate disillusionment. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/congressmen-bachus-gerlach-griffin-retiring-102296.html?hp=pm_2#.Ut8sJ-AQH-l

Pope Francis's transformation. “Herein lies the genius of [his] papacy: He has persuaded the world he isn’t a politician and, in doing so, has become arguably the most politically influential man in the world.”

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/01/pope-francis-political-genius-102301.html#ixzz2qnMGSX2O


For your “will she – or won't she” file. An early right-leaning piece on Hillary Clinton and 2016. http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/hillary-really_774776.html#

The town goes wild! It will, no doubt, make a fascinating master's thesis study: why does city of supposedly sane people so suddenly reach fever pitch over a sporting contest. Suddenly Bronco-logo “klingy-thingies” (for your window/windshield) are suddenly all the rage and it seems a safe bet that many in line for these souvenirs would not normally dream of lining up for anything. “Lord, love a duck” comes to mind, but, then, Duck Dynasty is still much in the news!