The passing of Donald Rumsfeld this week brings many atrocities to mind, especially the long list associated with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. There isn’t time to recount those here; but if there is an afterlife with any justice, they likely followed his shade into one of the lowest of the nether regions, like a … Continue reading “Transformation” Is Dead. Donald Rumsfeld Killed It.
As I begin this post, Portland and Seattle are roasting, a Florida beachfront condo has collapsed, the lake keeping Las Vegas afloat is disappearing, and many more out West are dreading the start of fire season. Here in the East we’re keeping a wary eye on Xs and Os on the Atlantic hurricane map; and … Continue reading Coming Soon: Maybe the Most Important Book I Never Wrote
This small 2003 collection of essays, now alas out of print, had its origins in two incidents, somewhat related, and which also turned out to be the start of something bigger, at least for me. In the first, I proposed to the Publications Committee of Friends General Conference (FGC), the “liberal” association of U. S. … Continue reading Shaggy Locks & Birkenstocks: wandering through recent Quaker history
In the May 30, 2021 New York Times, there was an Op-Ed on military conscientious objectors, or COs. It was gratifying to see it on the brink of Memorial Day. It showed no disrespect for those who agreed to fight and died in war to recognize that a persistent minority has declined to take the … Continue reading Memorial Day for Those Who Said No & the Innocents
From “Happy Valley” to Supermax? Graham Spanier is going to jail. Spanier was the longtime president of Penn State University (PSU), who was toppled in the notorious Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal in 2011 and 2012. Sandusky was a veteran PSU assistant football coach, and in 2012 he was convicted of 45 counts of sexually … Continue reading Penn State Ex-Pres Headed to Jail: Was PSU’s Secrecy Also a Perp There?