Thoughts and Interesting Stories---Jeff Clark

Recently a federal judge has pointed out that the Kennnedy Center for the Arts was created as a memorial to JFK, our slain president, and that by law it could not be used to honor any other individual. For most of my lifetime that seemed pretty straight-forward. But our petulant child-who-would-be-king was offended by a building that honored anyone but himself; fired the board governing the Kennedy Center and installed his own minions, who promptly renamed it putting his name in front. Artists performing there joined the chorus of complaints, bookings fell apart, and eventually our child molestor-in-chief ordered the thing closed for two years ("renovations") out of embarassment. John Thune and Mike Johnson, the Republican leaders of the Senate and House, refused to intervene for reasons that honorable people have trouble fathoming but seem to be consequences of their invertebrate nature. So: Joyce Beatty, a House democrat who had been on the fired board, brought suit in fede...

I've attended two commencements in the past eight days; the first was my son's and then yesterday my university had its commencement. University life, of which academics are a part, is a different phase then what preceded it (with some overlap in classes and other activities in secondary schooling but usually with family oversight) and what follows it. Afterward preparation takes a back seat to activity, and socializing required much more effort. When we make life transitions it important to note them and not pretend that they don't happen. It happens with relationships (some of which are long-term), it happens with changes of jobs, it happens with moving. We always hope that the transitions are for the better but there is never any certainty. So we celebrate the transition. Hopefully the celebration eases the transition, brings to the fore all the uncertainties and says that they matter less than the love and support present in your life from your various communities, fami...

Masters in Public Policy to be specific. 

It seems strange to me but I had more patience when I was young. I've heard that it goes the other way and I expected that.  In my youth it gave me an advantage in many discussions---many people who fervently felt things that seemed wrong to me often withered if I let them talk long enough.  But the world has shifted and now we are immersed in media and loud opinions that don't wither but just seem to go on and on and on. One of the differences between being an audience member and a participant in a discussion is the ability of the latter to ask follow-up questions. Loud opinions often fail the most basic standards of fact-checking such as the W's (who, what, where, when, why, how) and gently asking these words at the right moment often stops someone with hateful momentum if they can still hear them. But in the media none of the interrogators seem to ask these questions, permitting folk to talk around issues without ever actually discussing them. So much of discerning a mor...