Carrion Luggage (Book)

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Carrion Luggage

Carrion Luggage

Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.

This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.

It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.

It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."

I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Jeff

about 6 hours ago
In response to "Jury's Out"

I've always liked the general idea of a "jury of your peers" giving you a fair trial. Then I served on a jury and it was honestly kind of scary how people have to leave their fate in the hands of twelve individuals that, in many cases, struggle with basic deductive reasoning and critical thinking skills.

2 Like

Annette

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Jury's Out"

"The jury is made up of citizens selected basically at random from public records, such as voter registration lists."

I think it's from DMV records, because I (not a citizen) get jury summons every few years. I check a box that says that I'm a foreigner and they back off for another couple of years.

"A lot of people complain about jury duty, and go to great lengths (including committing perjury) to get out of it."

I made sure to stay a foreigner. As a mother of three young boys who are capable of having me called away from whatever I am doing because they caused trouble at school, I didn't think I wanted to be involved in this judiciary process. Now that they are adults with their own jury summons, I can't become a citizen because the government has started snatching and arresting people on way to their swearing in ceremonies.

3 Like

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Jury's Out"

I've been on a jury once. The only female. It was interesting and i enjoyed the experience. The only thing that irked me was the men kept asking if I understood! Like being female meant I didn't have a brain!

I haven't been chosen since because I answer their questions honestly. Most folks involved in jury selection don't like honesty.

Anyway it's all been interesting and a little entertaining.

2 Like

Charles 🐾

about 12 hours ago
In response to "Jury's Out"

Yeh, I had to pretend to look like an ass so that I wasn't selected when I had jury duty last year. I mean, I wasn't really pretending.

Granted, they let me know at 6pm the night before and I was sick and there was no way to ask to be excused on that short of notice.

I'd like to do it for real one day, maybe. But also not. Maybe for an easy case. The case I would have been on was a murder case, and I'm not about that life.

2 Like

Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008

a day ago
In response to "Diggin Up Bone"

I still can't decide how i feel about archeologist digging up graves. I know the value to learning but it seems so disrespectful.

TJ says, "keep on keeping on!"

Jan 11, 2026 at 7:22pm
In response to "I'd Love to Change the World"

They're right; you can make a change. Buy their book, and you'll make a change in their bank account.

1 Like

BIG BAD WOLF is Merry

Jan 11, 2026 at 1:30pm
In response to "I'd Love to Change the World"

Always something.

1 Like

Robert Waltz

Jan 11, 2026 at 12:00pm
In response to "I'd Love to Change the World"

Davy Kraken

- I agree that change (for the better) is possible, and I get your point about individual vs. small group. I just think that even with the individual or small group, it still requires other people being on board. I suppose that's where writing comes in: call it propaganda if we must, but people need to be primed for change. The Obergefell decision, as I recall, required decades of preparation and the activism of hundreds, if not thousands, of people, and it's truly remarkable that in significantly less than a century, we as a society progressed from "gays are deviants and their actions are illegal" to marriage equality.

And yes, more than voting is required, and I also agree that local election voting is critical. I think I've only missed one local election in this century.

2 Like

Davy Kraken

Jan 11, 2026 at 11:47am
In response to "I'd Love to Change the World"

I would point to Supreme Court cases as a prime example of how one individual can change things for the better: Brown [v. Board of Education], Loving [v. Virginia], Roe [v. Wade], and Obergefell [v. Hodges], to name a few that come to my mind quickly. There are often other cases associated with these rulings, so even in instances like this, there may be a question of whether these changes came about only due to the one individual or family named in the landmark case, but in any event…at most, we’re talking about a relatively small group of people who ultimately bent the moral arc of the universe a little closer to justice. I think the difference between an individual and a small group is unimportant in the overall discussion of whether “ordinary” people can change “the system.”

As they say, if voting could actually change things, it would be illegal. (Yes, I do it anyway.)

I’m glad that you do it anyway, but I always worry about promoting this attitude that voting is useless. And you have to wonder who “they” are that are saying this, because it doesn’t seem entirely clear who first expressed the opinion:

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/mark-twain-voting-quote/

To be clear, voting is not the only thing you can do to effect change in a democratic society, and it may not always be even the most important thing. But it’s important, and yes, there have been elections that have been tied or decided by one vote, so every vote made a difference in some elections:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_close_election_results

Many on this list are not statewide or national offices, but there are some. And it goes to show that local elections are important too, and we can often have outsize influence there.

4 Like

Elisa, Snowman Stik

Jan 11, 2026 at 10:21am
In response to "I'd Love to Change the World"

As they say, if voting could actually change things, it would be illegal. (Yes, I do it anyway.)

This has actually happened in Minnesota. Our state voted against defining marriage in the state constitution, and that opened the door to marriage for the LGBTQ community. Likewise, ballot initiatives have changed city governing structures in Minneapolis (but that's another story).

Now, on that, I can tentatively agree. I've been saying for years that it shouldn't all be on us.

At the same time, if we don't make an effort, the laziness/nihilism is easy enough to exploit. Making a concerted effort to effect change can (if nothing else) give the powers that be a headache. (Curiously, this ties in rather nicely with this week's "52 Questions"

[ASR] question.)

4 Like

January 11, 2026 at 10:10am

#1105742

I'd Love to Change the World

Continuing a theme, by chance, there's this recent anti-doom article from The Conversation.

Can you be the change you’d like to see? Three US philosophers aim to offer hope

What's a US philosopher? One who thinks before pulling the trigger?

Can one individual truly change the world?

I've had my doubts about this for a while.

US philosophers Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and Daniel Kelly believe individuals can make a difference.

And all you have to do is buy our book!

No, seriously, they want you to buy their book. The article says so.

The authors aim to show readers how certain personal choices can alter the “structures” and “systems” that govern the myriad decisions we make, usually quite passively.

Um, that sounds like just another inspirational "self-help" book.

Written for a general audience, the gist of their argument is captured by the words of US environmental activist Bill McKibben. “The most important thing an individual can do,” he once said, “is become somewhat less of an individual.”

Pithy and all, but I think it undermines the idea that one person can change the world, at least not by themselves. You might have a good idea or a brilliant invention, but it doesn't do any good if other people don't adopt it.

As for changing the world for the worse, well, I think it's trivial to say that yes, for the worse, one individual can make a difference.

This book is timely. In the Anglosphere, and further afield, many people are unhappy.

Ah, yes, the essence of advertising: You're missing a piece. You're unhappy. I can help, for a price.

One response has been a widespread loss of belief that joining an established political party or even voting in an election can achieve change.

As they say, if voting could actually change things, it would be illegal. (Yes, I do it anyway.)

The authors are strong critics of the “self-responsibilisation” that big fossil fuel, tobacco, betting and other companies have foisted on people to head off real systemic change.

Now, on that, I can tentatively agree. I've been saying for years that it shouldn't all be on us.

They advocate an approach in which individuals focus on those activities most likely to trigger other people into changing entrenched structures.

That, at least, has potential.

In many respects, the book is inspiring. The examples show how some ordinary people can become change agents without, metaphorically, having to climb Mount Everest.

And that's cool and all, but, first of all, that sounds like those business success stories you always hear: Ordinary people, hard work, grit, determination, getting up at 4am, blah, blah... sure, but what about the vastly larger number of people who did all that and still failed?

Second of all, one of my favorite memes is the one that goes "Every corpse on Mount Everest was once a highly motivated person."

Anyway, there's a lot more at the article which, despite being a blatant book ad, is an interesting read.

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