Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
I had every intention of writing something acerbic about Black Friday and marketing in the age of collapse, about the indignation I feel when asked to spend money by people who apparently have more than enough of their own money because they are using it to phone, email, text and otherwise intrude into my life.… Continue reading The Daily: 29 November 2024
Thanksgiving at Plymouth, oil on canvas by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, 1925 (An early rendition of How Many Things Are Wrong with this Picture) And then there's this... which gets a fairly comprehensive critique here.. to which I would add that nobody dressed like this in early 17th century New England. Nor were stone houses much… Continue reading The Daily: 27 November 2024
It's 'splaining season. Everybody has their own pet theories of why it happened. Most are probably wrong, but some are spectacularly, garishly wrong, wrong in so many ways you have to wonder if they're right. Jon Stewart had one such on his Weekly Show. Richard Reeves, President of the American Institute for Boys and Men,… Continue reading The Daily: 26 November 2024
I have never been particularly attached to Thanksgiving. It feels all wrong. It is supposedly a harvest festival, but it falls well after the harvest. It is lavished in the colors of autumn — which faded away weeks ago in the real world. It is based on a story that is neither factual nor especially… Continue reading The Daily: 24 November 2024
Subsidies It began with one of the cockier tellers asking politely to be paid a mileage rate commensurate with driving on Vermont roads, something that might cover at least the gasoline of driving up and down and up again to cover shifts in different bank branches. He hinted that car wear from those mountainous and… Continue reading The Daily: 22 November 2024
It's activity time! We're going to analyze the US economy... How's that for ambition on a Tuesday! But anyway... here are some useful tools. First, here is a handy take-home pay calculator that estimates a bi-monthly paycheck for a given annual salary, based on taxes where you live (if you live in the US). It… Continue reading The Daily: 19 November 2024
What Do We Do Now? Four years ago, we were adjusting ourselves to a future that did not include Trump. Biden was declared the winner of the 2020 election on November 7th, four days after voting ended. However, the counting had not ended. Republicans were filing lawsuits in crucial states, claiming that the counts were… Continue reading The Daily: 18 November 2024
“We’ll stop them,” Collum said. “They’ve always invaded and we’ve always stopped them. There has to be a way.” “Not this time,” Morgan said. “Because they’re not invading.” “Well, what the hell do you call it?!” “Emigrating,” Morgan said. “Fleeing. They can’t stay in Saxony. The sea there is rising and flooding their lands, and… Continue reading The Daily: 14 November 2024
So last week happened... It was not entirely a surprise; however, it still left most of us in a state of enraged shock for many days. But... While Trump et al have terrifying new capacities for causing harm, we have survived this once and I'm pretty sure we will survive again. As people. I am… Continue reading The Daily: 13 November 2024
Martinmas On November 11th at 11 in the morning, we practice a moment of silence for two minutes to remember the day we reached an accord and agreed to lay down arms after the brutality of World War 1. A century ago we stopped fighting. Soldiers came home. It was a time very like this.… Continue reading The Daily: 11 November 2024
By My Solitary Hearth 