It is Friday, midwinter. Out of the window here at Starbucks the sky is unrelieved gray, much salty damp asphalt, and concrete curbing. The architecture of our way of life is designed to accommodate the automobile. Automobiles, now cybernetic platforms, often cost as much as our parents paid for a house. Trees, shrubs, grass…
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump ordered the re-authorization and rapid completion of the Dakota Access and the Keystone XL pipelines, two controversial infrastructure projects that will make it easier to transport fossil fuels across North America .—The Atlantic Daily Jan 25, 2017 Earth “A planet doesn’t explode of itself,” said dryly The Martian astronomer,…
We spent the evening discussing slavery. Admittedly a depressing topic. The topic was explored to the extent of our ability and satisfaction. How do we explain slavery? Slavery as a legalized practice of owning and utilizing the life force of another, ended in the late 19th century. There are reports of remaining outlaw human…
I grew up in the South, as a Christian Fundamentalist. Everyone has to start somewhere. It’s not as if you or I have a choice. The text of the Old and New Testament was a major factor in my upbringing and consequently of my view of myself. As an adult, revising, reincorporating those formative…
Now I understand better the utility of silence. Nowadays the availability of social media has created a troposphere of unrelieved cacophony, a din of trivia, opining, and pontificating. There is even a class of paid hacks, contracted to generate opinions favorable to their paymaster. My life 1s enriched when I endeavor to just shut…
Last night Peter posed a question to us around the table. “Given that no one chooses to exist, to be born into this world, –What obligates us to choose to be helpful, to act kindly toward others?” That question always touches something deep within me. Something more basic and indescribable than my words awakens…
Outside it’s raw, below zero. In this warm coffee shop protected from the elements, I desire simply to be and to think. Here time is fecund with possibility. Around me others are here for the same reason, a place to be where the differences in lifestyle, economic status, the weight of fortune, become a…
“What the hell do you have to lose? Give me a chance. I’ll straighten it out. I’ll straighten it out. What do you have to lose?” The mostly white crowd cheered. Donald J Trump — appeal to Blacks and Hispanics, Ohio, Aug 22, 2016 I In the world forever one With the informing Love That…
Its a bitter morning, dark and 7 degrees when I last checked. But now the sun illuminates the parking lot, suggesting what lies ahead today will be agreeable. Whatever my mind ruminates upon, there is always a lot more going on. VI We travelers, walking to the sun, can’t see Ahead, but looking back…
In a few days a casino magnate and Reality TV Show celebrity will be inaugurated as President of the United States. The Republican Party with its new majority in both houses of congress cannot wait to destroy the health care insurance of millions by repealing Obamacare. Never mind that they have nothing to put…
