Good morning! I’m going to start writing a quick blog with a few thoughts everyday. Remember to check out my work at MississippiToday.org — the best damn newsroom in the world (I am showing a little bias here).
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DOUBTING THOMAS: My friend Neil talked about where to find faith. I spoke with Katie Eubanks from Mississippi Christian Living magazine yesterday and we touched on it as well. I half-joked that I am not qualified to talk about the subject because my first name is Thomas after all. I have wrestled with it when faced with unexplainable evil. But as I posted on Neil’s Facebook page, I think I can sum it up like this: “Neil, I was just pondering what faith means to me (I know, heady stuff for a Thursday morning). I think this sums it up. I was taught that faith meant I must convert others with my words. But if you get faith in your heart right, you don’t have to beat others over the head with your words. It just comes out in your actions. And those actions are what puts it into others’ hearts.”
CHOP SHOP. Gannett, which is a different Gannett than I worked for but is behaving just like the old one, announced another round on draconian cuts. I will admit that when I read it, it triggered my PTSD. I experienced numerous rounds of cuts and layoffs from 2008 to 2019, including being made part-time and losing half my pay. I am sitting here feeling that fear all over again and a touch of sadness for my friends who still work at the Clarion Ledger. They are good people doing good work under bad circumstances. I wish them nothing but the best. Mississippi needs every journalist it can get. (The TANF scandal and the water crisis are prime examples of it.) I sit here this morning grateful for my Mississippi Today family.
Here’s a link to today’s cartoon.
I heard from a public figure who spoke to my son’s class yesterday. He was complimenting me on my son’s answers. It was the kind of call as a parent that you hope to get. I called my son and recapped the conversation. He got some great advice about networking from the guest. So — this is not a post about my kid (of whom I am VERY proud.) No, it’s a reminder of what an influence mentors and guest speakers can have on kids. I appreciate that public figure for taking the time to speak to students.
Hurt people Hurt people. Watching the news coverage out of Ukraine still and listening to Putin’s nuclear threats. Having known a major narcissist, I always joked she didn’t have nuclear weapons or she would hav used them to protect her broken ego. That’s what’s going on with Vlad. It’s sad so many innocent souls have to die because of it.
Happy 247th birthday US Navy (picture is a painting I did of the USS Alabama.
