The Books of Bokonon

It's too soon to say with any certainty, but today is one that is cause for cautious optimism at the very least. I posted the live feed to Cory Booker's record-breaking 25 hour Senate floor speech last night when he had only been on a few hours. At the time I would have had no way of predicting how long he would hold the floor. His action beat the previous record of Strom Thurmond (an old-school segregationist) that went back to the 1950s, who needed to swept into the dustbin of history anyway. This speech was more than a form of performance art. Senator Booker tackled substantive issues throughout the 25 hours and four minutes he held the floor. He was joined by Democratic colleagues along the way - a number of whom asked questions to give Senator Booker's voice a rest. And those questions were substantive. For those who question whether or not the Democratic Party can meet the moment, hopefully this day will offer reason to hope. There were a number of special elections ...

This is part of my job that I enjoy the least. #March32Forever [image or embed] — Communies ( @communiess.bsky.social ) April 1, 2025 at 7:15 AM

For those interested, it is streaming live. I don't know if the full live stream will be archived, but just in case: Some action - any action is better than nothing. I am glad to see this. If he can last long enough to disrupt some of Tuesday's Senate business, that's even better. There's something to be said about good trouble.

Last night I finally got some down time and decided to watch a film recommended to me on Netflix called Leave the World Behind . The film has an ensemble cast (Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon, Myha'la, and Mahershala Ali, among others). It is based on a book that I will now want to read. Based on the reviews I read after the fact, the book is probably far superior to the film, and I say that while at the same time noting that I found the film to be pretty darned good.  It's an apocalyptic film with a fairly basic premise. A bored and out of touch yuppie couple decide to go on vacation with their teenage kids in a beachfront hamlet not far away from their home in Brooklyn. Julia Roberts' character comes across as something of a Karen. Ethan Hawke's character is this superficially politically correct college professor who seems to succeed by charming his way through life (there is something a bit skeezy about that character). Their vacation starts off fairly munda...

I am going to post the last two videos in the series here. I have been meaning to for some time, but this has been a very busy calendar year for me so far. Timothy Snyder's book, On Tyranny is one I have said time and time again is a must-read. I read it the first time in a single sitting. It's factual, easy to read, and provides a basis for the resistance to an impending fascist regime that will be necessary as we go forward.    All we can do now is learn these lessons and be as courageous as possible. We have a long and difficult road ahead of us.

  This was the scene at one of my local stores (I know - a Walmart) just days after the WHO announced that Covid-19 was a global pandemic. To be blunt, this was starting to happen well ahead of then. This aisle was the one where you were supposed to find toilet paper, paper towels and the like. If I hadn't been so focused on just getting the last necessities my household needed to survive for a few weeks, I would have taken tons more photos of the other aisles. By that point, there was almost nothing left on most shelves, except perhaps for items that were not necessities. The behavior was about what I would have expected. People were panicked and the federal government was already AWOL. Trump did nothing to reassure the nation that the full power of our national emergency services, our public health agencies (CDC), etc. would be used to make sure we were as safe as possible. There was no clear display of empathy. There was nothing but bluster. Most state governments in my area wer...