I didn’t vote for Jimmy Carter in 1976. In fact, I didn’t vote at all that year. I’m not proud of that, but there it is. It happened mostly because I was away from home on election day, and because I wasn’t scared. That autumn I was trying to write a novel about Quakers … Continue reading An Ode to Jimmy
[NOTE: Some politicians are crusading against U. S. military programs to overcome residual racism and make space for LGBT persons in the ranks (& even a few who do drag in their out-of-uniform hours).
[NOTE: I recall a year ago when Gwynne Dyer confidently predicted that Vladimir Putin would not be so irrational and foolish as to launch a war against Ukraine. Dyer was right about the war’s folly, but not alone in badly misjudging Putin’s state of mind and resolve. Still, I respect Dyer’s experience, breadth of strategic/historic … Continue reading Dyer & Friedman on Netanyahu’s Impending Victory & Israel’s Loss of Democracy
[Midday wrap-up: Three short but trenchant items (with an extra about the boreal Forest), covering wars (present and maybe future); climate change tipping points; and not least, why confronting Gov. Ron DeSantis’s racist war on “woke” head-on is a big progressive mistake. Check them all out!] # 1-Wars & Rumors of War: Looking to the … Continue reading Threefer Thursday: Briefs About Everything (Well, Almost)
I wonder: what’s it like to be Pope Francis, waking up each morning in the Vatican knowing he’s surrounded by people praying fervently, and that many of them are begging God to make him die before noon? Not everyone around him wants him dead, of course. Francis has fans and supporters too. And even … Continue reading Pope Francis: Wanted Dead, Or If Alive, Then Retired & Silent