Are we ready for the canonization of St. Liz, of Cheney, Martyr? Lifetime Catholic MoDo isn’t buying it: columnist Maureen Dowd bats away the shiny new blond miraculous medal. She won’t kneel, or even lean, to light the votive candle. Her trouble is, mea culpa, Dowd remembers. And talks. How uncouth, and inconvenient: Maureen Dowd, … Continue reading A Tale of Two Conservatives: Liz & Longwell
It’s true. Anyone, even you or I, can now cuss on the grounds of the historic old Alamance County Courthouse, in downtown Graham NC. You could even do it right on the courthouse steps. Right there. In front of God & everybody — everybody including Sheriff Terry Johnson. Yes, even him. The Raleigh News & … Continue reading There Goes the neighborhood: Cussing no longer a crime on the Alamance County courthouse steps
Tom Friedman, longtime NYTimes columnist, treats us to some snippets of diary entries from his first trip to Afghanistan, in early 2002, with then Senator Joe Biden. Friedman opens the piece in the posture of sadder-but-wiser sage: “I was not surprised that Joe Biden decided to finally pull the plug on the U.S. presence in … Continue reading “Nation Building” on the Moon? Smarter than the U.S. in Afghanistan?
“History doesn’t repeat,” Mark Twain supposedly said, “but sometimes it rhymes.” Are the conflicts within so many American churches over LGBTQ and associated issues part of some cruel karmic sonnet? The Separation Generation’s three volumes approach this question in prose, by chronicling disruptions among five American Yearly Meetings extending roughly from 2011 to 2018 (along … Continue reading Broken Churches, Broken Nation (Again?)
Besides his work and example, Friend David Zarembka also left a valuable and underestimated resource of writings for Friends and others. We’ll sample that legacy here, and point to where more can be found. Besides some personal contact, I learned most about Dave from his book A Peace of Africa. Here’s part of that context … Continue reading David Zarembka’s Memorable Writings: A Sampler