Hard Rain

It's Chloë Sevigny's birthday!  The actor and national treasure turns 47 today.  In a better world, that's all we would need to report to make this a complete and perfect post, but sadly there's more that needs to be said today.

The waxing gibbous moon is very nearly full; it probably looks full to the casual observer.  The moon rose at 5:16 p.m. yesterday afternoon and set at 7:24 a.m. this morning.  

Today is the day for the power of wisdom, for with it we depart from the two extremes.

Sharon Jones, the last of the old school soul singers, died at the age of 60 on this day in 2016. Impermanence is swift.

Two men imprisoned for killing civil-rights activist Malcolm X back in 1966 were exonerated of the charges yesterday.  One man, Muhammad Aziz, is now 83.  The other man, Khalil Islam, died in prison. In an unrelated case, the Oklahoma governor cancelled the planned execution of a death-row inmate who has maintained his innocence for over 20 years.  The exoneration occurred a mere four hours before the death sentence was to be carried out.

In Wisconsin, the jury is still deliberating on the trial of accused mass murderer Kyle Rittenhouse, and in Brunswick, Georgia, the trial of three white men who lynched and killed an unarmed black jogger is almost wrapped up.  The defense in the later case has complained about the number of "black pastors" present in the courtroom.

Yesterday, Congress voted mostly along party lines to condemn Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) for posting a video that showed him as an anime character killing another Representative, a woman of color, and then turning toward the president.  House Republicans refused to condemn the action, causing one to wonder just how extreme the partisan divide has become.

But all of this is in the news - you know all this already.  I have nothing new to add to these stories, other than noting that together they seem to document the unraveling of the fabric of our society.  I despair for the years ahead.

In 2020, everyone was waiting for 2021 to be "a better year," but it turned out to be more of the same.  Between climate change, the covids, racial and economic inequality, and a global drift toward authoritarianism, I fear that 2022 and beyond will have us looking back wistfully at 2020 and 2021.

We're in for some dark days.