Dec 31, 2021·edited Dec 31, 2021Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
Dear Robert,
I have been reading your newsletter for a very long time and today's, for the first time, brought tears to my eyes. Congratulations, Mazel Tov, on the beautiful growth of your family, with all the love and worry, and always optimism that you bring to your newsletter and life. Ten years ago in my work as an Interpersonal Psychoanalyst, I would listen to young people talk about their fear of bringing children into this world for political reasons, as a defense against deeper more personal feelings. Don't get me wrong, not having children is an option for all young people and I am glad to see more people feeling freer to ponder this question, rather than automatically fulfill the expectations of society and their families and have children, AND, the "political" reason used to seem like a defense. That has changed. When young people tell me they are worried to bring children into this world because they are not sure if they will see them going to war over water and other resources, I share their worry, and support all outcomes, but am always (in most cases) secretly happy when they decide to take the leap of faith and bring another life into this world. As long as we live and breathe we need to bring more life into the world.
We have a long fight ahead of us. I agree with you Robert, we will win, but I have two caveats to that. I do believe that the arc of history moves towards progress, but it has a lot of very very deep lows, and I do not know if we are about to enter one of these. Whether democracy, decency and humanity comes out on top, depends on how much time humans have to live on earth. As you point out, it's not looking good. Thank you for your wonderful letter, and Happy New Year to you and your lovely family.
Hi, Lily. I think you have been a reader since at least 2018, perhaps 2017. Thanks for being on this journey with us. I understand your apprehensions, and share some of them as I look at our two granddaughters. But their addition to our lives has given me new motivation to work harder and more effectively. It is up to us to make it better for them. Be well and safe. Happy new year!
I promised myself and you in one of my emails to you that I would sign up. My gift to myself for the new year is that I just became a paid subscriber. As we are approaching Jan 20, the anniversary of Joe Biden’s inauguration, I thought I would open my first remark with song lyrics I wrote as I watched events on television that hopeful day. I am a songwriter. Someone mentioned that the lyrics don’t refer to that day and I replied that there is one special line that does but it passes real quick but it’s my favorite line.
Broken Roads and Broken Trails ( Inauguration Day)
Nothing more to say
Wrong from the first day
Wrong, till the last day you know the tale
Broken roads and broken trails.
He was ushered out
Left behind only doubt
Blinds up, the White House disinfected through and through
Hi, Bill. Thanks for becoming a subscriber and welcome to the Comments section. Bill and I have been corresponding for several years via email and I am glad to see that everyone can now share in the discussion with Bill. Thanks for the song lyrics and the link to YouTube. Happy new year!
In case anyone wants to listen on YouTube, please search “Broken Roads and Broken Trails, Catman Bill Hartford, Connecticut “ and that should bring you in.
Your letters resonate clarity and balance. I am more than grateful for them. As thanks for your continued attention, I'm sending on a poem of mine (I'm a poet).
Foggy Afternoon Walk
A large number of ducks were involved
in a walking migration,
from the creek they inhabit by Richard’s Drive,
to the front yard of the empty house
on the far side. At least a hundred of them.
A congregation moving in smallish groups,
cacophonous and graceful,
dared the misty road, and sidled or trotted across.
I am so grateful that you focus on the positive and provide great resources so we can be active participants in our democracy. What a gift you and your managing editor are. Happy New Year. P.S. As I write we are watching our Colorado fires just a few miles from us, just north of Standley Lake. We are getting to experience what your family endured with the CA fires.
Hi, John. Thanks for your kind note. I have just started to monitor the fires in Colorado. I can't believe that you are experiencing wildfires at the end of December! I hope you and your family, friends, and neighbors remain safe!
Thank you so much for sharing your family commentary with all of us! We have been third-party beneficiaries in the truest sense of the word! Happy New Year to all the Hubbells, new and old(er)!
Robert a not so good year was made better everyday reading your newsletter and positive view on the world. I want to wish you and your family a Happy New Year and I am confident that 2022 will be the turnaround year for the Biden Administration
Robert, thank you for the time, energy, wisdom and passion you deliver to us each morning. I have come to rely on your positive approach as I begin each day, and often read passages aloud to my husband. We are so happy your cabin survived the fires and we hope you and your family enjoy many more summers there together. Let's hope 2022 brings us all together in a country we can once again be proud of. Best wishes to you and your family! Amie
Hi, Amie. it is good to hear from you. We are fortunate that our cabin survived and grateful for that outcome, but we now see that hundreds of homes have been destroyed in Colorado by wildfire in the dead of winter. I hope that Americans see in these events the warning signs of climate change. Please give my regards to your husband, and happy new year to you both!
Robert B. Hubbell, Lines from Today's Edition find themselves in the comments of subscribers to other newsletters. Your perceptions and inspiration travel well. Has any reader commented before, perhaps, someone closer to your age or older, that you are like a grandfather to them? Good health and cheer to you and your family in 2022!
Hi, Fern! Thanks for your note, and I am gratified to learn that others are spreading thoughts from this newsletter to others! As a new grandfather, I take the comment that I am like a grandfather to others as the highest compliment possible!
You are a voice of reason and sustained hope in a dark season of American history. Thanks to you and others like you who are willing to believe in a better future and wisely hold onto the long-term perspective on everything political. May you and your family experience God's love and blessing as we move into a new year.
Hi. Thanks for the good wishes and for the link to Tyson's comments on MSNBC. I subscribe to NDG's podcast and admire his science education efforts greatly--he is following in the footsteps of Carl Sagan. I will watch today. Happy new year!
Thank you so much for being here this year. I am so thankful to my friend who suggested you a little over a year ago. I followed the news of the Sequoia fires this summer as if your cabin was that of a friend or neighbor (in fact one of our condo neighbors has had a family cabin there for I think 3 generations), or as if it were Yosemite (the home of my heart). I have given more money to political causes I believe in this year, but not really more time. I am an un-activist at heart. Perhaps in 2022 I can change that in at least a small, but consistent, way. Wishing you and your family a new year filled with adventure, good health, and peace.
Carol, thanks for your kind words. I understand how you feel; it is both reasonable and rational given the political climate. But there are hundreds of ways to get involved, many from your home. Please follow the newsletter for suggestions. I hope you are safe and well!
One of our friends asked me how and why the Influenza pandemic subsided after 3-4 years. The science behind this article may provide some clues. The Omicron changes in the spike protein appear to have created preferential binding to upper airway epithelial cells – which are obviously quite different from lower tract cells. This is going to transform completely the understanding of resp infections – and may shed light on both the intense virulence of the 1918 H1N1 and how it was supplanted.
We’ve already learned more about the details of respiratory transmission in the last 20 months than in the previous 100 years. Now it’s gonna happen for respiratory pathenogenicity.
Nothing ever surprises me in medicine – we always learn how very wrong we were…. 😊
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing commentary. It's truly helpful in the midst of the hate and the fear to receive your calming voice that somehow manages to keep things in perspective.
Blessings to all. Have a joyful and safe New Year.
I join the chorus of thankyous for your newsletters. It is a lot of work - especially when one cares about accuracy, truth and balance. You inform us and you lift us up. Five days a week, you make my day. Happy Healthy New Year to you and yours.
Like you, Robert, I spent 2021 focused on the major themes: Democracy, public health, climate change and family. I was under no illusions, in 2016, seeing Trump winning as soon as HRC opened her mouth and uttered those three terrible words: "Basket of deplorables". I also knew his reign would be terrible, with his one great accomplishment in life having been building ONE skating rink in New York, "on time and under budget"-back in the 1980s. Thus, the events of January 6 came as no surprise-nor have the subsequent attempts by a blinkered pseudo-elite to cement their grip on power. The SOLE THING that will keep Republicans from oblivion is the persistence of corporate media in promoting their shared lies. That's fine; those of us who are intelligent enough to think on our own and do for ourselves will have work to do, this coming year and beyond. We'll get it done-the NYTs, Fawks Snoozes and WaPos of the world notwithstanding. Happy New Year, to you and family!
Thanks, Gary. I agree that the media is propping up the illusion that the GOP is a legitimate party in the American political landscape--as opposed to an organization devoted to the overthrow of the Constitution. On that happy note, Happy New Year!
Yes, Gary. The misinformation is a challenge we must address. Reuters story yesterday highlights the dark side: Anatomy of a Death Threat. It seems like the incredible following of misinformation offered up by FOX and others which has people mesmerized by pundits with malice intent. We must continue to follow Robert’s advice and good resources to counter the misinformation. We can do this as a collective with purpose - restore our constitutional government and democracy. Thank you.
Robert, thank you for this beautiful and hopeful yet clear-eyed edition. Like a commenter below, reading about your family also brought tears to my eyes. While writing post cards just now, I listened to your podcast with Jessica Craven. It was awesome! So inspiring. I'm finally going to have to check out Tik-Tok! Thank you for bringing your many readers hope during this very difficult year. I wish you and Jill and your whole family and happy, healthy and BLUE New Year!
Hi, Kate. Thanks for the note, and it is always good to hear from you. Jessica Craven is one of the people who makes me feel like a rank amateur and poser. She has so many effective initiatives going on in a single week that she is best described as a force of nature. Glad you liked the podcast featuring her. And thanks for writing postcards on the last day of 2021! Happy new year!
Dear Robert,
I have been reading your newsletter for a very long time and today's, for the first time, brought tears to my eyes. Congratulations, Mazel Tov, on the beautiful growth of your family, with all the love and worry, and always optimism that you bring to your newsletter and life. Ten years ago in my work as an Interpersonal Psychoanalyst, I would listen to young people talk about their fear of bringing children into this world for political reasons, as a defense against deeper more personal feelings. Don't get me wrong, not having children is an option for all young people and I am glad to see more people feeling freer to ponder this question, rather than automatically fulfill the expectations of society and their families and have children, AND, the "political" reason used to seem like a defense. That has changed. When young people tell me they are worried to bring children into this world because they are not sure if they will see them going to war over water and other resources, I share their worry, and support all outcomes, but am always (in most cases) secretly happy when they decide to take the leap of faith and bring another life into this world. As long as we live and breathe we need to bring more life into the world.
We have a long fight ahead of us. I agree with you Robert, we will win, but I have two caveats to that. I do believe that the arc of history moves towards progress, but it has a lot of very very deep lows, and I do not know if we are about to enter one of these. Whether democracy, decency and humanity comes out on top, depends on how much time humans have to live on earth. As you point out, it's not looking good. Thank you for your wonderful letter, and Happy New Year to you and your lovely family.
Hi, Lily. I think you have been a reader since at least 2018, perhaps 2017. Thanks for being on this journey with us. I understand your apprehensions, and share some of them as I look at our two granddaughters. But their addition to our lives has given me new motivation to work harder and more effectively. It is up to us to make it better for them. Be well and safe. Happy new year!
I promised myself and you in one of my emails to you that I would sign up. My gift to myself for the new year is that I just became a paid subscriber. As we are approaching Jan 20, the anniversary of Joe Biden’s inauguration, I thought I would open my first remark with song lyrics I wrote as I watched events on television that hopeful day. I am a songwriter. Someone mentioned that the lyrics don’t refer to that day and I replied that there is one special line that does but it passes real quick but it’s my favorite line.
Broken Roads and Broken Trails ( Inauguration Day)
Nothing more to say
Wrong from the first day
Wrong, till the last day you know the tale
Broken roads and broken trails.
He was ushered out
Left behind only doubt
Blinds up, the White House disinfected through and through
Sun up and skies are blue.
So you walk, past trees, by the reflection pool
Listen to the echo of gangs and fools
Wrong, till the last day you know the tale
Broken roads and broken trails.
And ye shall know the truth
And the truth will make you free
They told that to me once back in school.
Wrong, till the last day you know the tale
Broken roads and broken trails.
(All rights reserved @)
Hi, Bill. Thanks for becoming a subscriber and welcome to the Comments section. Bill and I have been corresponding for several years via email and I am glad to see that everyone can now share in the discussion with Bill. Thanks for the song lyrics and the link to YouTube. Happy new year!
In case anyone wants to listen on YouTube, please search “Broken Roads and Broken Trails, Catman Bill Hartford, Connecticut “ and that should bring you in.
Your letters resonate clarity and balance. I am more than grateful for them. As thanks for your continued attention, I'm sending on a poem of mine (I'm a poet).
Foggy Afternoon Walk
A large number of ducks were involved
in a walking migration,
from the creek they inhabit by Richard’s Drive,
to the front yard of the empty house
on the far side. At least a hundred of them.
A congregation moving in smallish groups,
cacophonous and graceful,
dared the misty road, and sidled or trotted across.
Every time a car showed up through the fog
arrangements were improvised. Negotiations
varied with each encounter. Sometimes, the car
stopped and the ducks continued silent
through the wavering headlight beams.
Other times, the ducks retreated,
squawking with disgust.
At last a car came, driving fast,
swishing at eight or ten ducks.
I screamed from the sidewalk,
covered my face with my arms.
And the ducks flew away.
I had forgotten they could fly.
copyright Pam Burr Smith 2021
Thanks for making me smile! Wonderful poem. Happy new year!
You inspired me to tap out my song lyrics. Thank you. Nice poem.
Thanks, Bill Katz.
I am so grateful that you focus on the positive and provide great resources so we can be active participants in our democracy. What a gift you and your managing editor are. Happy New Year. P.S. As I write we are watching our Colorado fires just a few miles from us, just north of Standley Lake. We are getting to experience what your family endured with the CA fires.
Hi, John. Thanks for your kind note. I have just started to monitor the fires in Colorado. I can't believe that you are experiencing wildfires at the end of December! I hope you and your family, friends, and neighbors remain safe!
My daughter moved to Broomfield last month and needed to evacuate. This is unbelievable. Stay safe.
Bravo! Bravo!
Thank you so much for sharing your family commentary with all of us! We have been third-party beneficiaries in the truest sense of the word! Happy New Year to all the Hubbells, new and old(er)!
Hi, Janet. Thanks for your constant support and companionship on this journey. Happy new year!
Robert a not so good year was made better everyday reading your newsletter and positive view on the world. I want to wish you and your family a Happy New Year and I am confident that 2022 will be the turnaround year for the Biden Administration
Thanks, and "From your lips to God's ears!
Robert, thank you for the time, energy, wisdom and passion you deliver to us each morning. I have come to rely on your positive approach as I begin each day, and often read passages aloud to my husband. We are so happy your cabin survived the fires and we hope you and your family enjoy many more summers there together. Let's hope 2022 brings us all together in a country we can once again be proud of. Best wishes to you and your family! Amie
Hi, Amie. it is good to hear from you. We are fortunate that our cabin survived and grateful for that outcome, but we now see that hundreds of homes have been destroyed in Colorado by wildfire in the dead of winter. I hope that Americans see in these events the warning signs of climate change. Please give my regards to your husband, and happy new year to you both!
Thank you, Robert, for all that you do for us, and for the nation. And thank you, Jill for lending Robert to us. They also serve who sit by and edit.
Happy 2022 to all.
Thanks, and a happy new year to you and your family!
Robert B. Hubbell, Lines from Today's Edition find themselves in the comments of subscribers to other newsletters. Your perceptions and inspiration travel well. Has any reader commented before, perhaps, someone closer to your age or older, that you are like a grandfather to them? Good health and cheer to you and your family in 2022!
Hi, Fern! Thanks for your note, and I am gratified to learn that others are spreading thoughts from this newsletter to others! As a new grandfather, I take the comment that I am like a grandfather to others as the highest compliment possible!
It came from the heart, grandfather Hubbell.
You are a voice of reason and sustained hope in a dark season of American history. Thanks to you and others like you who are willing to believe in a better future and wisely hold onto the long-term perspective on everything political. May you and your family experience God's love and blessing as we move into a new year.
Thanks, Peter. I greatly appreciate your kind words and blessing. May you and your family have a happy and blessed new year!
Neil DeGrasse Tyson last night on MSNBC….talking about his concern for science. A worthy few minutes!
https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/watch/neil-degrasse-tyson-science-needs-better-marketing-129861189979
Thank you Robert, for all your energy and passion, your commitment, and your ability to communicate it all!
Happy New Year!
Hi. Thanks for the good wishes and for the link to Tyson's comments on MSNBC. I subscribe to NDG's podcast and admire his science education efforts greatly--he is following in the footsteps of Carl Sagan. I will watch today. Happy new year!
"Everybody has a soft, geek underbelly." love it!
Thank you so much for being here this year. I am so thankful to my friend who suggested you a little over a year ago. I followed the news of the Sequoia fires this summer as if your cabin was that of a friend or neighbor (in fact one of our condo neighbors has had a family cabin there for I think 3 generations), or as if it were Yosemite (the home of my heart). I have given more money to political causes I believe in this year, but not really more time. I am an un-activist at heart. Perhaps in 2022 I can change that in at least a small, but consistent, way. Wishing you and your family a new year filled with adventure, good health, and peace.
Carol, thanks for your kind words. I understand how you feel; it is both reasonable and rational given the political climate. But there are hundreds of ways to get involved, many from your home. Please follow the newsletter for suggestions. I hope you are safe and well!
I'm sure you've already seen this article - https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/31/health/covid-omicron-lung-cells.html It's a great read.
One of our friends asked me how and why the Influenza pandemic subsided after 3-4 years. The science behind this article may provide some clues. The Omicron changes in the spike protein appear to have created preferential binding to upper airway epithelial cells – which are obviously quite different from lower tract cells. This is going to transform completely the understanding of resp infections – and may shed light on both the intense virulence of the 1918 H1N1 and how it was supplanted.
We’ve already learned more about the details of respiratory transmission in the last 20 months than in the previous 100 years. Now it’s gonna happen for respiratory pathenogenicity.
Nothing ever surprises me in medicine – we always learn how very wrong we were…. 😊
Thank you, as always, for your ongoing commentary. It's truly helpful in the midst of the hate and the fear to receive your calming voice that somehow manages to keep things in perspective.
Blessings to all. Have a joyful and safe New Year.
Thanks for the information and for the good wishes. Jill and I hope You and your family have a blessed and happy new year!
I join the chorus of thankyous for your newsletters. It is a lot of work - especially when one cares about accuracy, truth and balance. You inform us and you lift us up. Five days a week, you make my day. Happy Healthy New Year to you and yours.
Bill, thanks for your unwavering support and good wishes. Jill and I wish you and your family a blessed and happy new year!
Like you, Robert, I spent 2021 focused on the major themes: Democracy, public health, climate change and family. I was under no illusions, in 2016, seeing Trump winning as soon as HRC opened her mouth and uttered those three terrible words: "Basket of deplorables". I also knew his reign would be terrible, with his one great accomplishment in life having been building ONE skating rink in New York, "on time and under budget"-back in the 1980s. Thus, the events of January 6 came as no surprise-nor have the subsequent attempts by a blinkered pseudo-elite to cement their grip on power. The SOLE THING that will keep Republicans from oblivion is the persistence of corporate media in promoting their shared lies. That's fine; those of us who are intelligent enough to think on our own and do for ourselves will have work to do, this coming year and beyond. We'll get it done-the NYTs, Fawks Snoozes and WaPos of the world notwithstanding. Happy New Year, to you and family!
Thanks, Gary. I agree that the media is propping up the illusion that the GOP is a legitimate party in the American political landscape--as opposed to an organization devoted to the overthrow of the Constitution. On that happy note, Happy New Year!
Yes, Gary. The misinformation is a challenge we must address. Reuters story yesterday highlights the dark side: Anatomy of a Death Threat. It seems like the incredible following of misinformation offered up by FOX and others which has people mesmerized by pundits with malice intent. We must continue to follow Robert’s advice and good resources to counter the misinformation. We can do this as a collective with purpose - restore our constitutional government and democracy. Thank you.
Robert, thank you for this beautiful and hopeful yet clear-eyed edition. Like a commenter below, reading about your family also brought tears to my eyes. While writing post cards just now, I listened to your podcast with Jessica Craven. It was awesome! So inspiring. I'm finally going to have to check out Tik-Tok! Thank you for bringing your many readers hope during this very difficult year. I wish you and Jill and your whole family and happy, healthy and BLUE New Year!
Hi, Kate. Thanks for the note, and it is always good to hear from you. Jessica Craven is one of the people who makes me feel like a rank amateur and poser. She has so many effective initiatives going on in a single week that she is best described as a force of nature. Glad you liked the podcast featuring her. And thanks for writing postcards on the last day of 2021! Happy new year!
You a rank amateur and poser??? No way!! But thanks for giving me a laugh to close out the new year.