Good quote here from Chekhov.
To the existentialist, this applies to the entire universe around us.
Each of us must create our own meaning, whether that means being a child of God, leaving this world a better place than the way we found it, alleviating others’ pain, amassing wealth, etc.
I subscribe to a social media group on old houses, a subject I adore. Some of these are so cheap you could buy them for what we’d pay for a year’s property tax on a place in California.
Here’s a good example. And it’s inexpensive for a reason: you could spend a year fixing it up and it would still be a fixer-upper.
Also, it’s on the back roads of Caswell County, North Carolina. Your neighbors, whom you’ll meet at the local grocery store, won’t be talking about third-world politics, Wordle, or particle physics. Perhaps U.S. politics, but let’s not go there.
What? I’m confused. “Trump’s Statement” of a few months ago was that “Gas prices are (present tense) under $2.”
It would have been interesting if one of the gaggle of reporters surrounding him could have asked the obvious question: “That’s great, sir, but can you name a single state in the union whose gas prices are under $2?
It would have been a tense moment, for sure. Trump would have said, “Oh, you’re nasty. You’re fake news.”
But don’t we have any self-respect?
No one seems to understand Trump’s motivation here. Did it have anything to do with the $400 million gift aircraft?
Does Qatar fear attack from Alberta or Saskatoon?
The Qataris say they need to be prepared to help achieve peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I’m suspicious, though I’m no expert in military logistics. We’re talking about a 6000-mile plane ride.
Over the past few months, and especially since the murder of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing news sources are telling us that most of the politically related violence is coming from the left, in particular from the left-wing “terrorist associations,” e.g., Antifa.
If you look at some bjective ocoverage on the subject, however, you’ll learn that this is simple false. Here’s a bit from a PBS piece with a comment thrown in:
PBS: Policymakers and the public need reliable evidence and actual data to understand the reality of politically motivated violence.
Craig: On a good day this is true. But with Trump at the helm, this is anything but a good day. Are we to believe that Donald Trump is sending federal troops to democratically-led cities based on “reliable evidence and actual data?” This is a sick joke.
PBS: From our research on extremism, it’s clear that the president’s and Miller’s assertions about political violence from the left are not based on actual facts.
Here’s more from the PBS article:
After the Sept. 10, 2025, assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump claimed that radical leftist groups foment political violence in the U.S., and “they should be put in jail.”
“The radical left causes tremendous violence,” he said, asserting that “they seem to do it in a bigger way” than groups on the right.
WATCH: Extremism scholar analyzes influence of rhetoric on political violence
Top presidential adviser Stephen Miller also weighed in after Kirk’s killing, saying that left-wing political organizations constitute “a vast domestic terror movement.”
“We are going to use every resource we have … throughout this government to identify, disrupt, dismantle and destroy these networks and make America safe again,” Miller said.
Political Violence Rising
The understanding of political violence is complicated by differences in definitions and the recent Department of Justice removal of an important government-sponsored study of domestic terrorists.
Political violence in the U.S. has risen in recent months and takes forms that go unrecognized. During the 2024 election cycle, nearly half of all states reported threats against election workers, including social media death threats, intimidation and doxing.
WATCH: Trump conspiracies inspire threats against judges, jurors and election workers
Kirk’s assassination illustrates the growing threat. The man charged with the murder, Tyler Robinson, allegedly planned the attack in writing and online.
This follows other politically motivated killings, including the June assassination of Democratic Minnesota state Rep. and former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.
These incidents reflect a normalization of political violence. Threats and violence are increasingly treated as acceptable for achieving political goals, posing serious risks to democracy and society.
Left- and Right- Political Violence
Based on government and independent analyses, right-wing extremist violence has been responsible for the overwhelming majority of fatalities, amounting to approximately 75% to 80% of U.S. domestic terrorism deaths since 2001.
Illustrative cases include the 2015 Charleston church shooting, when white supremacist Dylann Roof killed nine Black parishioners; the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue attack in Pittsburgh, where 11 worshippers were murdered; the 2019 El Paso Walmart massacre, in which an anti-immigrant gunman killed 23 people. The 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, an earlier but still notable example, killed 168 in the deadliest domestic terrorist attack in U.S. history.
By contrast, left-wing extremist incidents, including those tied to anarchist or environmental movements, have made up about 10% to 15% of incidents and less than 5% of fatalities.
Ex
Long before Trump came along, the United States was a country driven by short-sightedness. I noticed from the time I was a young man that corporate decisions were based on quarterly profits, not strategies crafted to guide long-term success.
Of course, this is only one example. Here’s a Chinese proverb on the subject:
For a one-year plan: Plant rice.
For a ten-year plan: Plant trees.
For a hundred-year plan: Educate people.
There are a few reasons that we in the United States don’t have high-speed rail; perhaps the main one is shown at left. China is a command (rather than market) economy, meaning that the government, rather than private enterprise, can decide what it’s infrastructure will look like.
The profitability of the airline industry will make it completely impossible for high-speed rail to go anywhere here.
Before the “meat-eaters” jump down my throat for the cherry-picked comparison at left, let me admit that there are drawbacks to plant-based meat, especially that they are processed, which means they may contain additives, preservatives, and high levels of sodium.
Having said this, I urge readers to try one of these burgers, if only to find yourself amazed that they are virtually indistinguishable in taste from beef.
There are many reasons all this is important, of which kindness to animals is only one. The main point to be made here is that humankind’s demand for meat is driving the mass destruction of our rainforests, which in turn is heating up our oceans and atmosphere.
This woman cracks me up, regardless of whatever she’s saying about what politicians and their parties.
Until last week, she was known for her adherence to conspiracy theories re: human-controlled weather, Jewish space lasers, Covid-19/vaccines, the “stolen” 2020 election, school shootings, and many others.
Now, the blink of an eye later, she seems perfectly sane, providing the Republican party with some good advice as to what it needs to do to be successful in the 2026 midterms.
Imagine you’re a young mom, shopping for groceries with your two little kids, and you see a man with an AR-15 strapped across his back. You recognize that this is the weapon of choice for the mass murders of schoolchildren, and so perhaps you’re a bit more afraid than you would have been if it were just a holstered pistol. Are you going to be on national news for the next day or two?
The man looks like the stereotypical MAGA guy, and you remember hundreds of photos of people like him. Is he dangerous? It’s hard to tell.
What would you do?
Here’s what I would do: Leave. Noisily. “Do you think I’m shopping in a place with a guy toting a weapon designed to kill hundreds of people a minute? This is insanity. Goodbye forever. Anyone stupid enough to shop here deserves what he gets.”
