UD’s in the middle.
Under pressure from a hostile regime, DC begins to get going on its homelessness problem. The mayor notes that of course “the encampments are not technically permitted in the District.” And yet the last time UD returned home via Union Station, the waiting area was overwhelmed by homeless people, many sleeping in seats meant for travelers. A woman in one of the seats nastily told me to give her money, and, when I didn’t, followed me into the bathrooms and got nastier. Er – technically – this is not permitted.
Read Nellie Bowles for a bellyful of the ‘progressive-libertarian nihilism’ DC’s headed for.
[A]ny intervention that has to be imposed on a vulnerable person is so fundamentally flawed and problematic that the best thing to do is nothing at all. Anyone offended by the sight of the suffering is just judging someone who’s having a mental-health episode, and any liberal who argues that the state can and should take control of someone in the throes of drugs and psychosis is basically a Republican. If and when the vulnerable person dies, that was his choice, and in San Francisco we congratulate ourselves on being very accepting of that choice...
LOL. The NYT’s coverage of Westminster has been informative, amusing, and, uh, fetching, to UD, who grew up with dogs (her mother bred, showed and even hunted with English cocker spaniels, and there were always puppies around when UD was a kid) and very much loves them. Here’s her webmistress – speaking of fetching – when young, holding one of Mitzi’s puppies.
… friends.
Example One: She was chatting with her buddy Peter about Tom Lehrer, and it quickly turned into a competition as to who knew more lyrics and could sing them more convincingly. UD of course won; her parents played and sang Lehrer all through UD’s childhood, and UD has a better voice/vocal memory than Peter.
While UD basked in her victory, Peter said in a musing nostalgic sort of way I remember Tom’s many visits to my parents’ Cambridge house when I was growing up… He was a good friend and very entertaining…
UD bowed to his one-upmanship…
Example Two: Through Peter’s daughter, UD has come to be friends with Alice Hayes, a direct descendent of Rutherford B., and a clerk on the January 6 Committee. Barely out of her twenties, and guilty of nothing, she has just been issued a presidential preemptive pardon!
This just in: Airports suck, and nine hours of flying over the Atlantic is no fun.
This just in: Robust travel when you’re certifiably old is different from the same when you’re young. Hence: UD is proud she held up pretty well.
This just in: Nothing like being back in your comfortable bed after more than two weeks of Euro-wandering. “Hello, beautiful people,” our friend and neighbor Doug just greeted us as we shoveled the car and the driveway/front steps. Word is out in Garrett Park that we ditched the snowstorm and went to southern Italy instead.
Back to regular blogging later today.
… UD likes the name so much she’ll go ahead and use it to identify the stuff she found on a branch during this morning’s walk.
From the left: Morning commuter train zips by. Bright sign is BLACK MARKET BISTRO, town restaurant. Sidewalk is brand new — just restored. Bright lower lights are the GP post office, where we pick up our mail. Continuing to the right, storage sheds for town equipment. Also picnic table, tennis courts.
… UD contemplates an enormous American Elm leaf blown into the Bonhoeffer Garden by yesterday’s wind, and this year’s BEST PERSON IN THE WORLD award.
A gloss on Kierkegaard. UD‘s meditation garden is already generating insights!
