(I wrote this back in 2008. I’m reprinting it now because I am desperately seeking a new way of seeing in our troubled world.)
Our eyes are sometimes called the "window to the soul”(fenêtre sur l'âme).
I've heard Secret Service agents brag that they can identify an assassin by looking into his eyes. (So why do they always wear sunglasses?)
Cops often claim they can tell whether a suspect is lying by how his or her eyes move under questioning.
Reporters often claim the same thing. I have done it. It's tempting to think, after many hundreds of interviews, that you can identify the prevaricator among the horde.
But we can be deceived. There are those so convincing with their lies that even jaded cops, reporters, and investigators fall for their act.
Then, there is the role of eyes in attraction. We know, from biological studies, that a person's pupils tend to expand when they look into the eyes of another they find attractive.
Perhaps a college biology student, newly armed with this fact, will try to gauge the pupil expansion factor in a new potential lover.
With our eyes we watch one another ever so carefully. We read. We watch movies, TV, and other screens.
Our eyes can express our feelings. We tear up, get angry, sad, happy and curious, depressed, evasive, newly engaged and it all comes out in our eyes. We might become shifty-eyed, misty-eyed, steely-eyed or open-eyed, according to observers. And then there’s always Lyin’ Eyes.
There is also this. The photo at the top of my post is an illusion. The "moon" is painted on wood sitting on the slats of my back porch. I think of it as the Blue Moon of Kentucky, now hovering over San Francisco.
Or as John Berger might say, it’s just another way of seeing.
ARCHIVAL VIDEO:
Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys - Blue Moon of Kentucky
HEADLINES:
Trump’s Disgrace —While F.D.R. set a modern standard for the revitalization of a society, Trump seems determined to prove how quickly he can spark its undoing. (New Yorker)
Fear and Loathing in the White House (Journal of the Plague Years)
White House clash ups pressure on Europe to aid Ukraine without U.S. (WP)
Zelenskyy embraced by British PM Starmer a day after clashing with Trump (Al Jazeera)
Vance Positions Himself as Trump’s Attack Dog During Blowup With Zelensky (NYT)
Zelenskyy Forgot the First Rule of Dealing With Trump (Politico Mag)
"Three strikes": Inside the Trump-Vance fury with Zelensky (Axios)
Trump-Zelenskiy shouting match leaves Ukraine exposed in war with Russia (WP)
Pentagon orders civilian staff to justify work in Musk-led review (Reuters)
Cuomo Enters N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race, Upending Contest to Unseat Adams (NYT)
Track One Car Part’s Journey Through the U.S., Canada and Mexico—Before Tariffs (WSJ)
Up to 3,000 more U.S. troops are ordered to the border with Mexico (NPR)
America Is Pushing Its Workers Into Homelessness (NYT)
Education Department Blocks All Student Loan Forgiveness For 3 Months (Forbes)
China Tells Its AI Leaders to Avoid U.S. Travel Over Security Concerns (WSJ)
Gaza ceasefire deal hits critical moment as first phase ends (BBC)
Newly Discovered Jurassic Bird Rewrites History (WSJ)
Aging Brains Have a Sugar Problem – And Stanford Scientists May Have Found a Fix (SciTechDaily)
From boycotts to ‘good-buys,’ consumers are showing support for DEI (WP)
Trump Signs Executive Order Making Official Language Of U.S. Remedial English (The Onion)
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