The wild and the good

Many people, past and present, have written eloquently of the human need for nature and the wild, but Henry David Thoreau was one of the most eloquent and influential. Here's a little nugget I've missed before in my several passes through Walden:

I found in myself, and still find, an instinct toward a higher, or, as it is named, spiritual life, as do most men, and another toward a primitive rank and savage one, and I reverence them both. I love the wild not less than the good.

The wild, alas is getting harder to find these days. Hmmm...could the same be said about the good?

SPEAKING OF THE GOOD, it looks like West Virginia's memorial service for Senator Robert C. Byrd will have a cast of thousands--including President Obama and Vice President Biden. I plan on attending, but getting there may be a challenge.

WHILE WE'RE AT IT, here are memories of Byrd from those who knew him in Washington.

STATE OF THE STATES. It isn't good, thanks in part to the refusal of conservatives in Congress to extend fiscal aid to states.

BETTING ON THE PRIVATE SECTOR to drive the recovery is risky business.

WHICH WAY? Here's an interesting take on the current political landscape for progressives.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED