…my senses are jolted by the artificial atmosphere here at LAS, where I sit waiting for my flight back to SMF….The sounds coming from all the mouths, speakers & slot machines overwhelm my auditory canal & the blinking lights from the gaming lounge compete with the florescent bulbs to make my pupils dilate…

… My daughter tied the knot with her soulmate today. It was a wonderful occasion & made me grateful that we have our National Park system. Menu Falls at Zion NP It was the perfect venue…

… As I wondered about federal investments in this place, I noticed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $27.8 million to install runway drains & improve the pavement of a holding pad here at LAS I hope it’s a good investment…

… Did you see the NYT piece about poets leading combatants in the rebel armies of Burma? … The article highlights poet Maung Saungkha who has trained over 1000 kids to “learn how not to die.”

… I was just reading about Truman’s 1948 election because you alluded to it in your remarks to the NAACP yesterday when you used that wonderful quote from 33 about never giving anyone hell, just telling the truth so they thought it was hell….

…Do you feel secure? Are you preoccupied that you might get shot? Do you still have confidence in the Secret Service? Are you going to bat for Director Kimberly Cheatle?…

… I hope your trip to Las Vegas goes well….

… It’s too bad that the kid who did this probably felt so lonely! We can assume he was like the other young men who arm themselves & go on a shooting spree as a last act of desperation to get attention….

… the killing of D'Vontaye Mitchell, 43, in a hotel in Milwaukee. He died on June 30 after being pinned down on his stomach by four security guards… if the enforcers had a different mindset, they might not have resorted to violence so quickly….

… Does it bother you at all that only 5 of the 32 leaders at NATO have XX chromosomes? Why do you think that 4 of those 5 were from Baltic States?…

As I picked up trash on the River Walk today, I witnessed two notable events….

..  I worry that your visit to Mount Airy Church of God in Christ was not the best idea….

… please find out about the seizure of Thandwe Airport by the Arakan Army. It’s the first time the junta has lost control of an airport. This one serves Ngapali, a 7-kilometer long beach on the Bay of Bengal which is an international tourist destination…

…Did you enjoy the pyrotechnics? I was able to see three different fireworks displays from my living room, & felt dissonance each time at the awfulness & awefullness of the spectacles….

…Clare Hammond’s (CH) new book On the Shadow Tracks, which she wrote …. “the expansion of Myanmar’s railways is about the projection of military power, for the benefit of distant urban elites in London, Calcutta, Yangon, & now Naypyitaw. The key to this was forced labor regimes which were & are human rights catastrophes.”