Relieved though I was to see Hungary welcoming Ukrainian refugees with open arms, I could not help but remember the rolls of barbed wire that greeted the Syrians and other refugees from the holocaust of their homelands when at last they reached what they hoped might be the safety of Europe. Read more about Refugees
I hear there are folks out there who want nothing taught or suggested in schools that might imply that the United States has not always been a trusted arbiter of truth, justice, and the American Way. That might even imply that the American Way has not always been the best way. They want it laid down in stone that there is, in fact, an American Way to which we have always held in the best interests of all involved. And that questioning that premise is, in fact, a kind of treason. Read more about The Conversation
Now, now, now. Don’t get your panties in a bunch. Yes, I am still an atheist. But I am also, at heart, a Christian. And so are most of you.
I was reminded of this recently in a NYT column titled How Christmas Changed Everything, by Tish Harrison Warren: Read more about Yes, Virginia, This is a Christian Country
Years ago, when I was reading the Little House books, I remember being disappointed in Ma because of her dislike of Native Americans. Indians, as we all called them at the time. “Savages” as Ma thought them. I was in love with the idea of Indians. My first TV crush was Jay Silverheels as Tonto in The Lone Ranger. Laura Ingalls was in love with the romance of the Indian too. Ma was horrified. Read more about Woman: Nature’s Conservative?
It was over 40 years ago that I thought I saw a future that looked less like Star Trek and more like Mad Max and today I think we stand on a narrow ledge between a nation that builds back better and the world I feared: one of waterless barrens peopled by tribes that shoot first and ask questions later. Read more about Make America Amazing
Joe Biden spoke for all of us on Friday when he said that we had had enough of this nonsense. When one full quarter of the country is equating a roundup by a gestapo with efforts to save them from a death dealing disease, we have had more than enough. They may not care that their children die, but the rest of us do. I hope they sing “The Star Spangled Banner” as those tiny coffins are lowered into the ground. The rest of us are singing a different tune. Read more about Reclaiming Our Time
Fifty years from now, what will the history books tell us? Will they say, without fear of contradiction, that the United States narrowly missed an attempt to overthrow democracy in the years of the pandemic? Or will they tell us that there are still questions surrounding a stolen election? Read more about Big Lies Never Die
Black is a color
So is White.
A reminder for White people.
It is said that the concept of “White” was born in America and it seems to be true that never before had “white” people thought of themselves as “White” people. Not until they had to make a sharp distinction between themselves and people born with darker skin. Read more about Black is a Color
That was the header of a newpaper piece – WaPo or NYT, I forget which – written in the last week or so, and it made me wonder, not only about Syria, but also about Palestine. Palestine and Ukraine, Iran and Afghanistan, Israel and Belarus, Russia, China, Taiwan – the world at large and everything that is going awry with it.
And my question was: What in the hell can we do about it? About any of it? Read more about Whatcha Gonna Do About It?
In the 1949 Oscar winner “All the King’s Men,” about a small-time southern politician who ascends to the governor’s office before really muffing it, there is an early scene in a small-town cop shop that caught my eye. Read more about The Cop Shop