As a tween in the 1950s, I had a long fixation on all things Disney: seeing the first Disneyland theme park take shape, being glued to the Mickey Mouse Club (where my first TV crush was on the late Mouseketeer Annette Funicello), etc., etc. Even last year, it was a peak pandemic survival session when … Continue reading The Culture Wars Are Coming for Mickey
Friends, Here is a paper I wrote in 1970 about “The Quaker Testimony of Simplicity.” It was published in 1972; fifty years ago. It’s about 10500 words; not a quickie. Simplicity-1970-QRT-corrected-03-25-2022 When I wrote it, I had been among Friends for about four years, and had not yet turned 30. In my heart, it was … Continue reading Quaker Simplicity Rises Again; But This Time, It’s Complicated
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892). “In War Time” Anniversary Poem Somewhat revised Read before the Alumni of the Friends’ Yearly Meeting School, at the Annual Meeting at Newport, R. I., 15th 6th mo., 1863. [Written during another war, it resonates with a current one, and is edited here to highlight those echoes.] … Continue reading Whittier: “In War Time”
You may have seen that a Russian oligarch’s superyacht was seized in Germany. And reports are bubbling about Putinish vodka being dumped down many drains. But here’s the real kicker, the disclosure that the mobilization now includes even the Crazy Catpersons Caucus: From the Washington Post, March 3: By Jennifer Hassan The International Cat Federation … Continue reading Cats, Too?? Now It’s Getting Serious
I wonder how many temporarily “Canadian” truckers, recently evicted from the bridge at Windsor/Detroit, are now chugging their way west across the windswept snowy plains, aiming for the desert around Coachella, near Palm Springs California? It’s not just the weather (weekend forecast sunny, dry & high 70s) that’s drawing them. Or the three local Indian … Continue reading Behold: the USA Truckers Caravan Cometh