I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Linkee-poo would sit alone and watch your light, my only friend through teenage nights, and everything I had to know I heard it on my radio

"It was on this day in 1954 that the first transistor radio appeared on the market." It was the iPod of it's time (and paved the way for the iPod). There's still something special, to me at least, to listening to the radio in the dark as you start to go to sleep. The hiss of FM static, the warble and whistle of AM, the joy of tuning in a far away station and listening to something new and different. It still astounds me when I get a station from Michigan or Canada because of atmospheric conditions.

"In 1940, on the eve of the United States' entrance into World War II, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Immigration and Naturalization Service wanted to promote tolerance toward immigrants." History may not repeat, but it often rhymes. However Roosevelt instructed INS to create a radio program called I'm An American which highlighted the contributions of (mostly caucasian) immigrants and gave their viewpoint. "At the time, the U.S. was seen as 'America, the melting pot' — and the only country that could defeat fascism." Strength from diversity.

Jim Wright on the existence of Judeo-Christian values. Whenever I've heard people claim "Judeo-Christian Values" (typically in the context of "being under threat") you could substitute WASP and get the same effect.

"Russian trolls were ordered to watch Neflix's House of Cards show to understand Americans and U.S. politics." No wonder they're assholes. Our lives would have been much better had it been West Wing. No really, all my Russian friends, I recommend the West Wing. You'll like it.

A NY Jets fan, wearing a team labeled "I stand for the National Anthem" spreads out a flag to sit on while watching a screen and the stadium. Well, I guess if he was a real Patriot he would have been in Boston. Get it?

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