When I was a child my brother had a toy robot that would walk a few steps, its chest would fly open, laser machine guns would pop out, and lights would start flashing as it fired at you. After about five seconds the doors would close and the cycle would begin again. It was actually…
Moving Beyond Fear
Fear isn't a bad thing. In fact, when it pops up appropriately it serves an important function - it keeps us safe. When you are crossing the street and hear the sound of a bus bearing down on you, fear arises and helps kick your body into action to avoid becoming road kill. That's good…
Nothing is Ruined or Lost
I have been seeing articles lately, mostly aimed at millennials, declaring that this summer or this year is lost. I confess that I am mystified by this feeling, though I am not unfamiliar with it. In fact, I hear similar things from my thirty something daughter all the time. The summer is lost because the…
Who’s the Snowflake Now?
Back in the good old days when I was a child, back yard fallout shelters for the soon to be arriving nuclear winter were all the rage. Those in the know and with the means had them installed and stocked them with canned goods in a kind of pre-survivalist form of denial. Everything you needed…
Freedom
All the brave protesters shouting "I am free," Spinning in their box for some pigeon feed. Rage on their faces, rifles at their side, "Don't mess with me because I know my rights!" Convincing themselves much ado about nothing So much better than a little blue pill. Spending all your time compensating, Still at the…
Three People and a Goat
COVID 19, aka the corona virus, seems to have brought the world to its knees - with some notably stupid exceptions. In the United States, we have seen increasingly restrictive measures taken by state and local governments as they try to control the spread of a virus that we still aren't completely sure of its…
Coronavirus and Corona Beer
...are not the same thing. In fact, they are not linked in any way other than sharing a name. You do not get coronavirus from drinking corona beer. Depending on which survey you believe, between sixteen and thirty-eight percent of Americans believe there is a connection. Claims that Corona stock has fallen are not true,…
Places That Frighten Us
When I was a freshman in college I worked at Marshall Field's here in Milwaukee. It was a department store chain based in Chicago. I heard stories from my managers about the main store in Chicago on State Street. The store had a basement, a floor that in many old school department stores held what…
Who Are We to Be?
I confess that, watching the political discourse over the last few years I have become increasingly discouraged. I have watched American politics, not as an obsession but as a citizen interested in public discourse, since the late Johnson administration. To my more smart assed younger friends, I should specify that I mean the Lyndon, and…
Guns, Schools, and Selfishness
At a certain developmental stage, young children are appropriately concerned only about themselves and what they want. At that stage, that behavior is appropriate and we would be wrong (and ineffective) if we tried to hurry them out of that stage. We would interfere with their normal, healthy development, and they would suffer consequences at…
Craig Bergland 