Jim Bauman, Author at Brain Dumping in Retirement

Difficult People You Can’t Help Loving

By Jim Bauman April 16, 2025Books and Commentary, Life and LivingDeath, Partners, Relationships, Restoration

Anne Enright's novel, The Gathering, concerns the death by suicide of the narrator's brother. The gathering refers to the mostly family mourners at the funeral. The suicide was conflicted, of course, but also described as the kind of person you search out for friendship. He reminded me of my also deceased partner.

Help! There’s Too Many Republicans!

By Jim Bauman April 8, 2025Opinions and EditorialsDEI, Democrats, Political Balance, Racism, Republicans

Putting the control of government in the hands of a single political party is a singularly effective way of putting a brake on legislation that will benefit the electorate fairly. Today we've allotted so much power to Republicans that we're at risk of weakening the foundations of our democracy. The battle against DEI is a case in point.

Early Birthing and Later Consequences

By Jim Bauman April 6, 2025Books and Commentary, Life and LivingAging, Birth, Howard Norman

An appreciation of Howard Norman's novel Come to the Window, with relevant tie ins to my own birth and disjointed trajectory into old age.

Playing a Role

By Jim Bauman March 26, 2025Life and LivingActing, Aging, Making Mistakes, Self-Criticism

The lesson learned from trying to be something I was not; that is, an actor.

The Appeal and the Trap of Retirement

By Jim Bauman March 24, 2025Books and CommentaryAging, Retirement, Tove Jansson

Tove Jansson's book Sun City takes place in St. Petersburg, FL, a place I've had some dealings with through my parents' retirement there. It got me reminiscing and then thinking about my own retirement.

Armchair Quarterbacking Election Results

By Jim Bauman March 15, 2025Opinions and EditorialsCompetition, Democrats, Republicans

Following an election there's always a post mortem analysis by the losers about why they lost. The analysts need to find the flaws. And there are several places to look. At the candidates, the party, the voters, the messaging, or just because the time wasn't right. .

State Parks in the WV Legislative Spotlight

By Jim Bauman March 14, 2025Neighborhood WatchIndustrialization, Parks, West Virginia

The West Virginia Senate in the 2025 legislative session posted a bill to rescind a provision in a state law that prohibits industrial drilling in state parks. This is in the interest of allowing carbon sequestration in the parks.

Political Messaging

By Jim Bauman March 3, 2025Citizen Journalist Course, Opinions and EditorialsCampaigns, Messaging, Politics

What are the goals, probable benefits, and tactics for setting up a messaging campaign for a progressive political organization?

Becoming and Being a Creative Person in Newfoundland

By Jim Bauman February 25, 2025Books and CommentaryHoward Norman, Newfoundland, The Bird Artist

An appreciation of Howard Norman's novel The Bird Artist with a side note or two of additional appreciation for the real artists of Change Islands, Newfoundland, where I lived idyllically for a while.

Living Without Friends

By Jim Bauman February 16, 2025Opinions and EditorialsAmerica, Global Friendships, Making Friends, Status

The Trump administration is playing fast and loose with the global friendships the United States has created and maintained for decades. What will be the effect of the U.S. losing those friends? Does the U.S. need friends anyway?

A Mighty Little Bird

By Jim Bauman February 16, 2025Books and CommentaryAnne Enright, Book Review, Family Dynamics, Ireland, Irish Culture

Anne Enright's book The Wren, The Wren is a tale of modern Ireland's evolution from a country under the heavy thumb of the Catholic church to its current secular culture. She tells the story through the lives of a loving dysfunctional family.

Getting Swing Voters to Lend Some Weight to Your End of the Seesaw

By Jim Bauman February 9, 2025Opinions and EditorialsElections, Messaging, Political Choice, Politics, Swing Voters

When is the best time to start engaging with the next following election? And a related question, when is the best time to try and convince someone to vote for your side?

DEI: It’s Been Good Knowing You

By Jim Bauman February 5, 2025Opinions and EditorialsDEI, Diversity, Election 2024, MAGA

The 2024 presidential election creates a scary picture of the future of DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) for US democracy. We can speculate about what's coming, but first the MAGA movement has to rebrand itself to something less scary.

Hold On To Our Youth

By Jim Bauman February 5, 2025Opinions and EditorialsLocal Politics, Population Growth, West Virginia, Youth

West Virginia is losing its youth and becoming a state of older people. Our state, though, is actively trying to keep people out who could help reverse the outflow.

Superlatives in Politics Are the Worst

By Jim Bauman February 5, 2025Opinions and EditorialsAmerican Politics, Democracy, Superlatives

Claims made using superlative language can be convincing to some, while to others they are the mark of the snake oil salesman. It's the old story of don't believe what you know, believe what I say.

On Reading Tana French’s In the Wood

By Jim Bauman February 4, 2025Books and CommentaryBook Review, In the Woods, Mystery, Tana French

Book review of Tana French's first Dublin Murder Squad series. A good read that offers up more than you'd expect from a murder mystery.

A Nobelist’s Not Best Work

By Jim Bauman February 4, 2025Books and CommentaryCriticism, Ishiguro, When We Were Orphans

The Nobelist Kazuo Ishiguro pegged his book When We Were Orphans as not his best book. The jacket blurbs though were heaped with praise. It was an interesting difference of opinion to explore.

A Half Century of Our Discontent

By Jim Bauman February 4, 2025Books and CommentaryBook Review, Capitalism, Steinbeck, The 1960's, Winter of Our Discontent

John Steinbeck published The Winter of Our Discontent in 1961. Like all his novels, it was rooted in the environment and in the time period in which he wrote it. It still speaks accurately, though, to the world of the mid 2020's.

Black History Month 2025

By Jim Bauman February 1, 2025Life and LivingBlack History Month

Black History Month has a half century history, since Gerald Ford inaugurated the celebration in 1976. Until 2025 the month was actively celebrated by our government. That has changed now in the emerging Trump dictatorship.

The Wild West in the White House

By Jim Bauman January 23, 2025Opinions and EditorialsBillionaires, Democrats, Politics, Trump Administration

The accumulating wreckage of the second Trump administration and how his thoroughbred billionaires are abetting the devastation.

Making the Case for Diversity

By Jim Bauman December 18, 2024Neighborhood WatchDEI, Diversity, Immigration, Republican Opposition

Diversity used to be a good word. It expressed ideas of openness, acceptance, fairness. It was something you wanted to support. It was something that defined America. But now diversity is under attack by the Republican party and is actively being legislated against in red states. It's good vibes are being subverted and replaced by negative connotations.

The Mind of Your Better Angel

By Jim Bauman December 9, 2024Opinions and EditorialsBelief Systems, Better Angels, Points of View, Polarization

People are guided in their voting choices by their underlying belief systems. Assuming that most people's guides are kindly motivated, let's assume that these guides are angels. What would be the difference, though, between a good Left bending angel politically versus one on the Right?

I Want More Cake

By Jim Bauman December 9, 2024Opinions and EditorialsArmchair Economics, Billionaires, Greed, Mother Earth

Billionaires, even though there are relatively few of them, are accumulating more and more wealth at the expense of the "little people" all 7 billion of them. They are increasingly getting involved politically for no good reason except to become trillionaires. Mother Earth is not pleased.

The Smarts of the MAGA Intelligentsia

By Jim Bauman September 9, 2024Opinions and EditorialsEmpathy, Intelligence, MAGA, Project 2025

The intelligence of people who have a lot of it, maybe too much, is often applied in ways that sacrifice empathy. A case in point, the scientists of Los Alamos, who created the atom bomb. Another, the political scientists who created Project 2025.

Democratic Snowflakes and Republican Ice Crystals

By Jim Bauman September 8, 2024Opinions and EditorialsDemocrats, George Lakoff, Jonathan Haidt, Republicans, War on Coal, West Virginia

Politics is a brain game in which the opposing players have to come up with strategies to persuade and convince voters. The game is played to a great extent with language wrapped up in signs and speeches. Social scientists understand more and more how to craft that language to be effective.

The Hungry Pie Lover: An Allegory

By Jim Bauman August 3, 2024Opinions and EditorialsBiden, Choices, Discernment, Politics, Trump

A fictional account of a restaurant owner who thinks much of his menu and disparages his competition. The tale is related through the person of a potential customer.

How to Be a Bully

By Jim Bauman July 2, 2024Life and LivingBullying, Politicians

Bullying is widespread, even endemic, in American society. It's a behavior that many of the powerful segments of society, including politicians, engage in.

Washington Waging War on West Virginia?

By Jim Bauman June 27, 2024Opinions and EditorialsGovernment Funding, Jim Justice, Politics, West Virginia

Criticism of Governor Jim Justice blaming the Biden Administration for delays in highway construction in West Virginia.

Undocumented Immigrants are People Not a “Scourge”

By Jim Bauman April 28, 2024Opinions and EditorialsImmigration, West Virginia

A response to a local politician critical of US immigration policy, even though immigration would be a plus for West Virginia's declining population.

Keep Going Or Jump Off

By Jim Bauman April 21, 2024Life and Living, Opinions and EditorialsAI, Choices, Medium, Retirement, Writing

With the advent of artificial intelligence, Medium, the writers' collective is getting a lot of writers submitting articles using AI. This article explains why I don't use AI to do my writing for me.

From “I Wish You Weren’t” To “I’m Good With It”

By Jim Bauman April 21, 2024Life and LivingAcceptance, Coming Out, Conversations, Gay Men, Mothers

A history of the long process of coming out to my mother and the reasons she had to fear accepting me.

MAGA: An Honest Analysis of the Acronym

By Jim Bauman March 16, 2024Opinions and EditorialsElections, MAGA, Politics

An analysis (from a leftist perspective) of what the letters in the MAGA acronym stand for.

Strong Gay Men

By Jim Bauman March 2, 2024Life and LivingDouglas Murray, Gay Men, LGBTQ, Living Authentically

Douglas Murray's book The madness of crowds is an antagonistic conservative reaction to identity politics, including gay men. This response is a consideration of why adopting a strong identity is necessary for groups to create strongly grounded individuals.

Creating the Theocracy

By Jim Bauman March 2, 2024Opinions and EditorialsCompromise, Democracy, Judicial Overreach, Theocracy

Democracy is becoming something of a dirty word among Christian conservatives, who would put their trust in the future of America as a theocracy. They are getting closer to achieving that goal in recent actions by certain courts. This attitude is becoming also a major platform plank of the Republican party.

How Long Does It Take to Make a Democracy Work?

By Jim Bauman February 21, 2024Opinions and EditorialsAmerican South, Democracy, H. L. Mencken

Democracy has had a rough ride here in the U.S. In the hundred years from World War I to today, it has increased and declined. The misgivings that H.L. Mencken had about the workings of democracy as he saw it 50 years after the Civil War are still with us today.