What do we mean by meaning? If it means anything, meaning must surely go beyond rule-following (merely putting together a grammar book with a lexicon) and on into the heart of messy human experience.

— The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World by Iain McGilchrist a.co/fb59wzu

Every time I think I have my app configuration settled and functioning smoothly, something comes along that questions it, which as often as not leads to reconfiguring it. Is it boredom?

From this morning’s walk…

Branch and leaves on concrete sidewalk after a storm.

Fake flowers in a shop window.

Sunlight on a wicker shelving unit.

Painting of man in uniform with giraffe head.

Selfie in the glass of a door set back between window display areas.

Something about this array of wood planes makes me think spike heel shoes… rather sexy in a masculine sort of way… pronouns them/they.

4 antique wood planes in a row in a shop window.

“I’m Exploring Life”: 50 Years of Tom Wood’s Photos of Britain

Photie Man: 50 Years of Tom Wood at Liverpool’s Walker Art Gallery is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of the work of Wood, who is one of Britain’s most important image-makers. “It was something I wanted to do for the city,” Wood says. “The work was made here and I’ve had big shows all over the world; Moscow, France, China even, but not Liverpool.”

Lime Street, lives passing by, 1995

This morning’s HCR is an upbeat assessment of the moment. The Regan movement is petering out.

That battle to divide the American people along cultural lines in order to dismantle the federal government has, after forty years, led to a Republican Party that has embraced Christian nationalism, abandoning not only the policies of democracy but also democracy itself.

heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/june-12…

Today we get to see how much of a problem Judge Cannon might be.

From this morning’s walk…

Chestnuts forming on a chestnuts tree…

Morning clouds.

Car with Puerto Rican flag plastered to hood.

Overflowing trash can on the street.

Plant leaves, some dying, some green.

Something tells me Puerto Rican day is coming soon…

Meaning is context bound, but context is boundless.

— Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution, Second Edition by Ken Wilber a.co/f9VedRW

On the inevitability of hierarchy…

Thus, even those who embrace heterarchy or radical pluralism are making deep and profound qualitative distinctions, even though they denounce qualitative distinctions as brutal and vicious, even though they deny the notion of frameworks altogether.

— Sex, Ecology, Spirituality: The Spirit of Evolution, Second Edition by Ken Wilber a.co/f66Z38A

essaysonattentionpaid.com/2023/06/1…

Notably, it features Elon Musk opining that we will need a universal basic income because so many jobs will be taken over by robots. According to Musk, people will now have time to pursue their creative selves. Retirement for all. He is also bullish on the arrival of AI that will “far exceed” the intelligence of human beings, saying it will be here in as soon as five years. This video was made two years ago. So, 2025-6 for the arrival of super intelligent AI?

essaysonattentionpaid.com/2023/06/1…

Notably, it features Elon Musk opining that we will need a universal basic income because so many jobs will be taken over by robots. According to Musk, people will now have time to pursue their creative selves. Retirement for all. He is also bullish on the arrival of AI that will “far exceed” the intelligence of human beings, saying it will be here in as soon as five years. This video was made two years ago. So, 2025-6 for the arrival of super intelligent AI?

From this morning’s walk…

Fading peony blossom.

Blossoms and leaves on a green picnic table.

Street scape with cars, buildings and Key Food sign in the distance.

Flowers and reflected sky in a window.

Self reflected in a window and mirror across the room of a restaurant.

Notes on what a banana republic is…

reason.com/volokh/20… #politics-us #45th #vladimir-putin #authoritarian

Giving high officials impunity for criminality is actually a hallmark of authoritarian regimes. The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin routinely commits war crimes and other violations of law without fear of prosecution is a sign of the degeneration of that country’s political system, even if some trappings of constitutional government remain.

Overheard on the street… young woman to her friend, “that’s called a speaking indictment.” Permeating the consciousness of the young men and women on the street!

A couple of cardoon plants for my vegetable garden!

Cardoon plants.

From this morning’s walk…

Water drops on the hood of a Land Rover.

Morning sunlight through wicker shelves creating grid patterns.

Beacon, NY labeled socks in gay pride colors.

Gay pride flags in a shop window.

Red Infinity sports car parked on the street.

Silver formal dress in a shop window.

Having read half the Justice Department’s indictment of 45, what astonishes me more than anything is how he hasn’t been caught up by his stupidity before now?

Had the desire to understand nuclear family vs extended family…

The term nuclear family was popularized in the 20th century. In the United States, it became the most common form of family structure in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Since that time, the number of North American nuclear families is gradually decreasing, while the number of alternative family formations has increased; this phenomenon is generally opposed by members of such philosophies as social conservatism or familialism, which consider the nuclear family structure important.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_family

What’s for breakfast… Tuscan inspired spaghetti frittata, made with quinoa spaghetti, bok choy and cheddar cheese.

In other words, Jack Smith went big. This is not a trivial case and these are not trivial charges.

…and then there’s news that the case has been assigned to Judge Canon… hmmm…

https://open.substack.com/pub/morningshots/p/indicted-again?r=3lmw0&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

In the creative signage department…

From yesterday and today…

Petals from a peony on the sidewalk.

Blue shoes on the edge of a pink tub.

Circle and rectangle composition of manhole cover and sidewalk repair patching.

Bright yellow crosswalk signs and white pavement markings.

Building demolition site.

So, we are having an air quality event due to wildfires in Canada. This is what the view down the street in front of our house looked like this AM…

View down the street in Beacon, NY, mountains partially obscured by wildfire smoke.

And this is what it looks like this afternoon…

View down the street in Beacon, NY. Mountains totally obscured by wildfire smoke.