Another World Is Possible
In February 2022 when people talked about Russia and Ukraine, I was stunned to hear people add words to the effect that, by the way, “China is bad.” Can we love our country — the land and its people — and not be hostile to other lands and other people? Can we please move our […]
Big peace rallies are starting up again. Hoping lots of people will find a way to BE THERE at rallies for peace. A big rally is happening in Washington DC on Saturday, March 18 at 1:00 p.m. and other rallies around the country are also expected that weekend. Find more information at CODEPINK and the […]
“Keep them busy!” What Trump says and does has kept a lot of the public and government distracted and busy in recent years. On January 28, Trump kicked off his 2024 presidential campaign, alerting us that apparently this “weapon of mass distraction” is to be continued. Like a lot of people, I wonder how things […]
Ten years ago on March 5, 2013, Hugo Chávez, president of Venezuela, died. A piece I wrote called “Ten Things I Learned from Hugo Chávez” is below and HERE. Presente! is a word used in Latin America to affirm that those who have passed are still a part of the living, and remain in our […]
This was quite a year for me, and I’m guessing for everyone! At the end of a year, I like to consider all the things “I gave myself” last year. Using that phrase reminds me to be grateful. I often do this process with loved ones — and so I’ll share a few with you! […]
The US is the oligarch of the world. We know it, and statistics show it. Of countries with the highest military spending in 2022, the US spends more than the next nine countries combined (chart should say “9” instead of “10” countries). Even worse, US military spending is $2,219 per person, more than twelve times […]
“Fine” used to be a fairly typical response to the question of “How are you?” but I don’t hear “fine” as much anymore. “Hanging in there” or “Okay” seem more likely after these past few years of wars, economic reversals, pandemics, and weather catastrophes. The old “80% of success is showing up” has become even […]
Here is a half-minute clip of one of the most significant Freudian slips I’ve ever heard. Earlier this year George W. Bush meant to be talking about Russia, but he made the mistake of momentarily looking up from his written speech. He denounced “the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal […]
Words that really struck me recently are from a newer, much shorter novel by the author of The Overstory, Richard Powers. In Bewilderment (W. W. Norton & Company, 2021), Powers tells us a story about an astrobiologist and his son, who are looking for evidence of life in the universe. Oh, this planet was a […]
In the 1980s people carried protest signs saying “US out of Nicaragua!” and El Salvador, and Grenada, and then many others. I also saw signs saying “US out of my uterus!” While the problems may seem to be quite different — the first ones are international and the last is very personal — they really […]