Three hundred and seven years ago, on July 30, 1718, William Penn died, in England. Aged 73, he had been in very poor health for almost six years, after a massive stroke in 1712. This is not exactly news. And in recent years, Penn has been out of fashion in many Quaker quarters — disowned … Continue reading William Penn Died This Week; Just When We Needed Him Most
CNN: Tiananmen Square timeline April 15, 1989 – Hu Yaobang, a former Communist Party leader, dies. Hu had worked to move China toward a more open political system and had become a symbol of democratic reform. April 18, 1989 – Thousands of mourning students march through the capital to Tiananmen Square, calling for a more … Continue reading Tiananmen Square, China: Remember
Sheesh! Did somebody slip one (or two) of those “new” cure-all psychedelic pills into my low-sodium tomato juice?? Must have, because I’m having wild and weird hallucinations from —I don’t know— 1967? They’re full of long-haired young men shouting slogans against the draft. I can tell they’re hallucinations because other than the hair, the protesters … Continue reading Flashbacks! I’m Having 1967 Anti-Draft Flashbacks! From Vietnam to Jerusalem
Last month I attended two presentations by the new AFSC Director of Quaker Engagement, Brian Blackmore, at Durham and Chapel Hill Meetings here in North Carolina. Blackmore, just a year in the job, is the successor to Lucy Duncan, a longtime AFSC staffer who was unceremoniously fired in early 2022 when she tried to start … Continue reading AFSC: When the Slides Went Awry, And The Key Questions Weren’t Asked . . .
It’s a venerable Jewish joke: a Jew falls off a ship, in mid-ocean, and swims to an uninhabited island. Years later, his SOS signal is spotted. When rescuers arrive, they find he has managed to construct three small buildings from flotsam and jetsam: a small cabin, and two identical synagogues. “Why two?” He was asked. … Continue reading Could Drafting Ultra-OrthodoxYouth Bring Down Israel’s Government?