As a child born at the end of 1962, I caught the dying gasp of the Beatles run as a band. My family bought a copy of the 45 RPM single Let it Be, released in 1970. I suppose by that time, the band was already a thing of the past, but my older brothers … Continue reading Lost Your Hair
Opinion
Well Played Mr. Trump
So *this* is who we are! Sally Edelstein’s blog Envisioning the American Dream included a post yesterday (July third, the day the house approved the senate version of Project 2025) that mourned the loss of American exceptionalism. To her, exceptionalism meant a country striving towards the ideal stated in the last line of the original … Continue reading Well Played Mr. Trump
The Growing Threat of Violence
He stood on the corner before me as I crossed the street. His head bobbing and nodding, making eye contact, his lips already moving before I even made it to the sidewalk. A Fox 43 camera dangled at his side. I couldn't hear him—a live version of Folsom Prison Blues by the Dream Syndicate filled my ears—but I … Continue reading The Growing Threat of Violence
No Kings!
Read on a sign: You can’t spell HATRED without RED HAT. Following the George Floyd murder in 2020, after conservative America began its backlash against the Black Lives Matter movement, Susan and I joined a protest. A few hundred people, mostly college professors, nonprofit workers and retirees, encircled the Gettysburg town square. We held signs … Continue reading No Kings!
Abandoning My Post
As a college graduate in the mid-eighties, I lacked seriousness and substance. My girlfriend’s father at the time called me the ‘party kid’ and ya know what, he nailed it. My knowledge of the world around me ended at my five favorite bands, which six packs I could purchase for under two bucks, and an … Continue reading Abandoning My Post
The Resistance
The Resistance. My friend Regan first brought it to my attention in an email on December 19, a full month before the inauguration. The Resistance. It recalls the scrappy human soldiers in the futuristic clips from the Terminator movie franchise. Nicaragua’s Sandinista freedom fighters in the seventies. My college roommate Tom commandeering the microphone at … Continue reading The Resistance
The Known World
Annex Canada, invade Greenland, pillage Panama. Deport our neighbors—our pickers, our laborers, our factory workers, a million Americans, lynchpins of our community, of our economy. Hush money, insurrection, stolen secret documents, sexual assault. Billionaires running our country, the far right ruining the world. Skyrocketing temperatures, exploding debt, morphing viruses: tipping points everywhere you look. (Expensive … Continue reading The Known World
Shouting into an Echo Chamber
When class ended, they fist bumped and stretched their legs and grabbed paper towels to wipe down their bikes. A couple of shouts of “good class,” and “thanks Jeff” and people filed out of the room. As they left, I gave a quick plug for my next class, “I’ll see y’all on Saturday at eight,” … Continue reading Shouting into an Echo Chamber
The Mourning After
I woke up this morning, the morning after election day, and thought, “Oh! This is the country I live in!” I apologize to my overseas friends, we let you down. But we can stop the debate; we now know who we are. We elected a serial and self-proclaimed sexual abuser, a felon, a man who … Continue reading The Mourning After
Death by a Thousand Cuts
As a nation, we marched in this direction for years, still it caught everyone off guard. It started with weed. Thirty-seven states already legalized it. Four more headed in that direction. Lots of talk during the months before the election of repealing the federal law altogether—no one enforced it anyway. As soon as he took … Continue reading Death by a Thousand Cuts
Deported
2026 When they told me I had to leave the country, it felt like complete nonsense. Jeanette and I discussed emigrating at least a dozen times over the past eight years, hoping to bail on our shifting society. We identified countries that might work—the English speakers: Canada of course. Australia. New Zealand sounds appealing. I … Continue reading Deported
Tidal Wave City
Originally appeared on undercrust.blogspot.com — July 27, 2015 A crashing wave packing unusual force and energy. The water hits the beach and runs. Walls breached. Houses swamped and washed away. A senseless loss. Built too close to the sea. But it's expected. Tidal Wave City has run its course. This is a beach game. An … Continue reading Tidal Wave City
Cease and Desist
[The Other Stuff] Contact Name:Albert Kinney Email:albert.d.kinney@usdoj.gov Comment: Notice: Cease and Desist (DOJ-02262025-003) Mr. Cann: It has come to our attention at the U.S. Department of Justice that your website, The Other Stuff, contains forty-two articles critical of President Donald J. Trump dating back to 2015. As you are already aware, as evidenced by your … Continue reading Cease and Desist
Flavor Flav—His Turn
Flavor Flav, a rapper and ‘hype-man’ for the music group Public Enemy, debuted his rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner on October 29 just prior to a Milwaukee Bucks basketball game. In a metropolitan area like Milwaukee, the Bucks could find at least a hundred local singers who could nail the pregame anthem in perfect pitch … Continue reading Flavor Flav—His Turn
Dog Days
I’m not the one who should be writing about weather. Daily, I read about unprecedented heat in Arizona and millennial flooding in Vermont. Let the Arizona and Vermont bloggers write the weather posts, I thought. It’s pleasant in Gettysburg—high eighties, low nineties. Yes, that’s a little hot, but it’s July, it’s supposed to be hot. … Continue reading Dog Days
The Inevitable
The chipmunk that lived in the downspout behind my back porch died today. Tommy murdered it. Does that sound hyperbolic? Do cats commit murder? If he had any intention of eating it, I would say he killed it, but eating wasn’t part of the plan. He offed it for sport. He dropped it on my … Continue reading The Inevitable
Wavers and A**holes (my rules for running and life in general)
In this great wide world, there are two types of people: wavers and assholes. By the great wide world, I mean the national park where I run, the Gettysburg National Military Park (aka the Gettysburg battlefield). By wavers, I mean runners who wave or nod to other runners as they approach. And the assholes? I’m … Continue reading Wavers and A**holes (my rules for running and life in general)
Open letter to the Binchies at Binchtopia
I listened to three of your podcast episodes. First Sophie, and then Susan, got sucked in—that’s exactly how it happened with the Happy Fits. As a college student, Sophie is exposed to new stuff: bands, TV shows, podcasts. She brings them home and Susan sees the magic. Eventually, she drags me along with her. We … Continue reading Open letter to the Binchies at Binchtopia
Killer Robots from the Future
Why leave a comment no one will ever read? I do this regularly at washingtonpost.com. My go-to news source offers readers an opportunity to comment on their articles. I did this today. Alexandra Petri, a Washington Post opinion columnist, knocked out a mildly amusing five-hundred words on her dislike of San Francisco’s killer robot plan. … Continue reading Killer Robots from the Future
No More Bullshit
Trump 2020 – No More Bullshit. I saw that popular right-wing sign all over my county during the Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd’s murder. What bullshit was that? You know, that people of color demanded not to be killed by police when confronted over minor infractions. I can’t think of a better phrase … Continue reading No More Bullshit
The Other Stuff 