Communique #15 The Taster

This election is too important to leave food to chance. Biden needs a Taster. I don’t think Trump will stop at anything to win.

In ancient Rome, the duty was often given to a slave (termed the praegustator). Roman Emperor Claudius was killed by poison in AD 54 even though he hired a food taster named Halotus.^[1] Tasters were sometimes coerced.^[2] Over history, presidents and royal families have hired food tasters or sacrifices, over fear of being poisoned. Queen Durdhara, the Mauryan empress, ate food that was prepared for her husband and died.^[3]

Adolf Hitler's food taster Margot Wölk tried the food at 8:00 am every day, and if she did not fall ill the food would be sent to Hitler's military headquarters.^[2] President Vladimir Putin has hired a food taster who is part of his security staff to protect himself as well.^[3] In recent times, animals such as mice have been used to detect impurities in food produced for humans, such as during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.^[4] In the United States, several recent presidents, most prominently Barack Obama, have been known to employ food tasters.^[5]

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Communique #4

Watching the sky this evening, wind moving the trees. Out the window, watching the movement of the evergreen limbs in motion. Are they moving in a different way? Has the pandemic changed this movement, the motion of the limbs? I wonder. Yes, it is nonsensical and yet, . . . I study the trees, the movement, and am mindful and alert to detect the change. While watching my mantra comes to me, “We are ALL in this together”. And if there is an omnipresent power acting as director, it would be a fine time for this enormous teaching moment. We are ALL in this together and if we can flatten the curve of the virus, we could flatten the curve of the climate crisis. Because we are ALL in this together. And yet, I can see that this could all spin down into chaos. I see both sides. I am pulled to the positive, hopeful side while fully acknowledging the dark possibilities. My strong suit here I feel is that I am seventy-one years old. Even with the worst projections I would still have l...

Communique #12

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Communique #6 The BIG Story

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