The Summit of Summer comes;
Trouble is brewing for The Western Front,
Like a witch’s cauldron; bubbling over,
Foul liquids and noxious odors.
Muster courage or lose the North Atlantic’s order.
By: Paul L.
The old guard grows gaunt and grey,
Hate; cancer of the brain.
A nation’s bane.
Selfish and aging; they disdain.
Bankrupted souls, misers in control.
Responsible for a new generations arrival,
In trust to us, a globe much diminished.
Shrugged off climate change,
Nature is screaming out, “Danger!”
A legacy of our planet’s ruin.
From the greatest generation to the omega,
Now, trapped in protectionist, forceful isolation,
Skeletal hands clutch the reigns,
While youthful faces stare at uncivil statues.
“Why enshrine those that stand for hate?”
“To remind people of their place?”
It’s decrepit, we’re drowning in Oceans of plastic.
There’s a debris belt; trash in orbit.
Nature’s wrath will answer,
Hurricanes will come to wipe out the coastlands,
Homes held by the old guard will be lost underwater.
Still the EPA spits in the planet’s face.
Millennials cry out; tears and dismay.
Our inheritance; inequality in wealth,
Education comes with lifelong debts.
By: Paul L.
Words swirl; locked in the mind,
A thousand definitions; fleeting,
Hundreds of meanings,
Angst, choose one, listen.
Say something; make sense,
Replies trapped, a cranium cave-in,
Gaze behind bright eyes,
Thoughts scream out; relevance!
By: Paul L.
A career civil servant was on the national news giving an interview. Suddenly, 2 agents from homeland security show up during taping. They wanted the civil servant brought in for questioning because he recently resigned. The career government official recently quit and had some reasonable things to say to the public. It shook me to the core. What happens when the government wants you silenced? Nothing in a democracy. That’s the answer. Now? I don’t know. When the government wants you to cross ethical and moral lines and you decide to resign, that’s ok. And it’s ok to talk about that. Why would the government want to keep you quiet when it’s not a matter of national security? Speaking out against the government is one of our shining rights. It’s called freedom. If you resign because you have moral qualms with your employer, it’s ok. And it’s ok to give an interview about it. It’s not a secret that the government wants a narrative that they can control. They can have a narrative but so can the public. The constitution guarantees that right. It’s chilling to see an example of government repression on speech. If it’s not “secret” or confidential and it doesn’t concern national security, a government agency interrogating a civil servant over the truth of an administration’s narrative shouldn’t be ok. It’s chilling and reminds people of authoritarian regimes that force their narrative on pain of jail and/or death.
By: Paul L.
Oxycontin is a controlled substance. The number is II. That’s the highest legal standard. After schedule II the drugs are illegal. Schedule II means the drug is highly potent and addictive. I don’t understand all the attorney generals going after Purdue Pharmacy. Oxycontin has always been a scheduled drug. Doctors know what that means. Pharmacists know what that means. To leave out the doctors and pin all the blame on Purdue is misinformed and unjust. Doctors aren’t stupid. They did the prescribing. They knew it was a schedule II. Purdue made some misstatements and they paid for it. Doctors are in this mess as much as any pharmacy. If you listen to the cbs news they say sales marketing tricked doctors. They must think doctors are pretty dumb. BTW there is a place in medicine for pain medication. People suffer and deserve relief from pain. Pain can ruin lives and quality of lives. The AGs going after Purdue are a bunch of guys with tunnel vision ignoring the doctors that overprescribed it. Or cbs is right. Slick marketing of a scheduled drug will always dupe the doctor.
Anon
Scott “the cheap” Pruitt
Pruitt is the cheapest man in Washington. Hey Scott. Try bringing a sandwich to work like the rest of America. He racks up a grand eating at an Officer’s mess. No, he is not an officer. And that 1k is for one month. Who pays the tab? America. For the past year, he has been riding the coattails of Americans. He’s taking us for a ride people. Conservatives don’t like wasteful spending. Pruitt is a walking talking waste of taxpayer’s money. The EPA doesn’t need him. There are plenty of oil and gas guys to takeover. His boss should be mad. He said to knock it off, yet everyday there is a news story about Pruitt’s cheap spending habits. So cheap that the bills go to his boss, his rich friends, and the American public. Shame on you Scott Pruitt for making America as cheap as you. It makes Trump look bad and he has enough to deal with, without your expletive.
By: Uncle Sam’s Wallet
There is one expression an autistic individual should know, if they enter mainstream life. No Accommodation is the bill-board sized statement, lit up with neon gas, that will be there to greet you, rather than the word welcome.
It is a sad fact that neuro-typicals like to stay ignorant of the 1 in 55 that have autism spectrum disorder. That’s an increase from the 1 in 68. We are here. We are the largest minority population and the everyday NT doesn’t do anything to make it easier. Some stores make a big deal about being autism friendly. They might be, but they are rare. I have never been to one. What is so hard about welcoming an Aspie? Turn down the lights a little? No, that won’t fly. How about waiting for a reply to a superfluous greeting as you walk by? No, can’t make time? They think, “he doesn’t say hi as I walk by. He must be rude.” No, they’re probably thinking deeply about a special interest and the word “hi” didn’t make it through with its banality. Being Autism friendly isn’t hard, but nobody does it. We have unique challenges. Help us eliminate the background noise. I know I’m overwhelmed by noise and general ruckus. Light is painful. When you ask for help, an NT will say, who cares about you? There are other people here. Why should we accommodate you? Why do you build a wheelchair ramp? That’s accommodating. Autism unawareness is at an all time high, but we are growing and getting older at a higher rate. At some point people will have to acknowledge a population that is worth having. We can be just as special in our own way as everyone else. If NTs continue to make it unbearably hard for us, can they blame ignorance? It boils down to welcome. We cope with loud people, bright lights, unwanted touches, and confusion from body language. If you see a grown man cover their ears as a beeping cart comes down the aisle of Walmart, should we kick them out for their strange behavior or do something about the constant unnecessary beeping? If you argue and make excuses for the machine against a suffering person and make a case for loud noises, than congratulations. You are a neuro-typical. We see you. You are the unwelcoming. We see you. You are the judgmental, if we have meltdowns. You are the people that put up the sign. No Accommodation. Aspies can be really good at seeing the minuscule. We see the unaccommodating. We see you, but you don’t see you us. Until you know what to look for and decide to help, life will be hard in situations that could be helped with a little accommodation. We are worth a little investment. It’s up to NTs to make us welcome in a world built for and run by NTs.
Paul Anon
 | Linda Carr on Democratic Wrongs |
 | Ward 65 on CBS This Morning/News |
| Linda Carr on The Daily |
 | funrunners.org on Human Evolution |
| Linda Carr on The Method |
