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The Unselfish Vegetarian

People often say that humans have always eaten animals, as if this is a justification for continuing the practice. According to this logic, we should not try to prevent people from murdering other people, since this has also been done since the earliest of times. Isaac Bashevis Singer I was listening to The Splendid Table… Continue reading
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Mom

It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful? Mahatma Gandhi My mother, Bernadine Mary Hazinski Prokop, passed away this past Friday at 4:40 a.m. Arizona Time. She was 98 years old. There is much that I would like to say about Mom, but it’s too early in… Continue reading
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Variations on a Theme

Hapy, the ancient god of the Nile, depicted at Dendera with Cleopatra, is typically shown with breasts – symbolism that demonstrated how the life-giving gifts of Egypt’s river artery come only when the power of both female and male was combined. Bettany Hughes Variation One I can still recall a reoccurring dream I had around… Continue reading
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Still Marching After All These Years

I think there’s a weapon of cynicism to say, ‘Protest doesn’t work. Organizing doesn’t work. Y’all are a bunch of hippies. You know, it doesn’t do anything,’ because, frankly, it’s said out of fear, because it is a potent force for political change. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez I have been to a lot of rallies over the… Continue reading
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Somebody Somewhere

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading. Lao Tzu I have always been a stumbler. I create lofty plans regarding where I want to be and what I need to do to get there only to see my journey become a series of accidents, pitfalls, switchbacks, and wrong… Continue reading
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How Old Am I

If I had to choose just one dayTo last my whole life throughIt would surely be that SundayThe day that I met you George David Weiss “How old am I?” She looked up from her book. “What?” “I said, how old am I?” “Don’t be silly. You know how old you are.” “I want you… Continue reading
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This I Shout Loudest: Scenes From the Resistance

Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight. Bob Marley In Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell sang, “You don’t know what you’ve got ’till it’s gone.” Although she was singing about the environment, she could have just as easily written the song about our American… Continue reading
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A Day of Visibility

All of us are put in boxes by our family, by our religion, by our society, our moment in history, even our own bodies. Some people have the courage to break free. Geena Rocero I have said and done far too many unkind and thoughtless things in my life. Some are long forgotten, but there… Continue reading
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Pollyanna, Radical Feminist

Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it. Chuck Palahniuk I have secret pleasure. I adore 1950s and 1960s live-action Disney movies. I suspect that much of that has to do with my childhood. I have very powerful memories of piling into… Continue reading
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Entirely Ready

I have to be composed; I have to be poised. I have to remember what my first piano teacher told me: ‘You do not touch that piano until you are ready and until they are ready to listen to you. Nina Simone It has been a few months since I wrote A Fearless and Moral… Continue reading
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The Art of No

Letting go helps us to to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress. Melody Beattie In 1964, as an 8th… Continue reading
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Teenage Crash and Burn

When I was a teenager, I was an ultra late bloomer, and my mom would say it was a blessing because it means you never have to wonder if guys are only interested in you because you’ve got boobs. Anna Kendrick I recently came upon the following: A survey conducted by the Survey Center on… Continue reading
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Time Beyond, Time Without

Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides. Lao Tzu It has been said that there are five stages of grief: Denial, bargaining, depression, anger, and acceptance. Today is the second anniversary of my brother Bob’s death and since waking this morning I’ve felt every one of them to one… Continue reading
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Sought Through Prayer and Meditation: Help, Thanks, Wow

I close my eyes, then I drift away, into the magic night I softly say. A silent prayer, like dreamers do, then I fall asleep to dream my dreams of you. Roy Orbison My history with prayer has not been a good one. I was raised Catholic and rather than prayer being a means to… Continue reading
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By the Light of the Stars

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. William Shakespeare I’ve been far too serious lately and it’s time to lighten up. I can only write about the sad state of my country and technical gobbledygook for so long before I need to balance it with something ridiculous. Several years… Continue reading
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DeepSeek AI: Thinking in Chinese

Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in their right mind should have an inferiority complex every time they look at a flower. Alan Kay As many of my faithful readers know, I have been spending the bulk of my geek time playing with different AI models. I… Continue reading
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Cyber Fraud: Protect, Recognize, and Recover

Fraud really thrives in moments of great social change and transition. We’re in the midst of a technological revolution. That gives con artists huge opportunities. People lose their frame of reference for what can and can’t be real. Maria Konnikova Since my retirement last May, I have attempted to fill my days with worthwhile and… Continue reading
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Inauguration Day

Power, properly understood, is the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political, or economic changes. In this sense power is not only desirable but necessary in order to implement the demands of love and justice. One of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love… Continue reading
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Lasso the Moon

Wise to resolve, and patient to perform. Homer Until the pandemic put an end to it (as it did to too many traditions in my life), Linda and I loved going to the Riverview Theater for their annual holiday showing of Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Even though I have seen it countless times… Continue reading
