The Unclad Soul

  OPINION PAGE © 2024 Timothy Moody The apparent assassination attempt against Donald Trump last Sunday afternoon at his Trump International Golf Club was foiled by the Secret Service. Details are still coming in about it, and it's not yet known why the suspect, Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, apparently wanted to shoot Trump. The botched attempt was amateurish in every way, just as the one in July was by a kid 150 yards from Trump.  Conspiracy theorists are having a field day.  The former President is, of all things, blaming these attempts on his life with what he called the “violent rhetoric” of President Biden and VP Harris. Of course, that is absurd, especially coming from Trump, who has consistently been guilty of that very thing since he became president in 2016 and even before.  His speeches, X posts, and comments on his Truth Social platform have been endlessly filled with threatening language and incitement to violence.  He suggested those protesting the Murder of Ge

OPINION PAGE © 2024 Timothy Moody The world has forgotten Gaza and the Palestinian people. Democracies like Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, and, tragically, shamefully, the United States have all left the Palestinians in the hands of a monster. Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his hostile, extremist Likud party have never wanted anything  but to destroy the Palestinian people and take complete control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. And that is precisely what they are doing.  The deadly Hamas attack on an outdoor music concert in Israel last October gave Netanyahu the perfect excuse to begin the extermination of the Palestinians and the land grab he has always wanted. Palestine is supposed to be protected by international law. But Israel has violated that law again and again since it was given status in 1948. And the world has done nothing to stop it. Like Trump, Netanyahu obeys only the laws he chooses. The rest

Anyone who follows my posts knows how much I love movies, Netflix series, HBO, and so forth.  I often think how remarkable these films are in reflecting so clearly our world, our society, and our own lives. The lessons they offer can be transformative.  In the 2006 movie, “Little Miss Sunshine,” we meet Olive (Abigail Breslin), a precocious and darling 7 year old who dreams of winning a beauty pageant.  She is not the beauty queen type though. For one thing she is too smart. She also wears big clunky glasses. And she has a round little tummy and an awkward run.  But no child could be more sweet, or more lovable.  She belongs to the Hoover family, a cross between the Beverly Hillbillies and the McCallister family in “Home Alone.” Dad (Greg Kinnear) is a struggling, uptight, luckless motivational speaker. Mom (Toni Collette) is a protective, cigarette smoking nurturer. Brother Dwayne (Paul Dano) is a cynical nerd obsessed with Nietzsche and becoming a test pilot for the U.S. Air Force. U

  The night, with its stars set in the darkness above, silent in the mystery that is space, shines as a messenger of light. The sun, fickle, some days glaring, burning, and some days shedding warmth against the cold, has its purpose. The clouds, hazy and swift at times, like crumpled tissue floating across the sky, and at other times motionless, taking odd shapes, a unicorn, a face, a mountain of snow, offering relief from the summer heat, or billowing and turbulent warning us of threatening weather ahead. The earth rotates without our notice. Caught up in the tedium of our lives, we take for granted the miracle of our planet. Its landscapes and oceans, its highlands and peaks, its trees and flowers, the green grass, the yellow fields, the clear streams, and rugged paths. Majestic. Stunning. Mesmerizing. Awesome. All of it. Every rock and petal, every clump of earth and blade of grass, every jagged crevice and smooth hill. Astonishing in their place of function. Healing in the glory