Dear Mr. Trump, It’s all worked out. You don’t have to worry any more. America’s enduring greatness showed up last night with the Cubs winning the World Series. Securing national greatness beyond every doubt. One hundred and eight years is a long wait. But we all made it. Thanks Cubbies! And congratulations everyone.
People are talking. This matters. We suspect our country and its people are better than this. But we’re not sure. Question. Does a Presidential candidate’s personal history of repeated demeaning public comments about women – with regard to appearance or sexual utility – have civic relevance? Does a Presidential candidate’s history of physical sexual harassment of women have civic relevance? Does a Presidential candidate’s dismissal of either or both kinds of behavior… Read More
From time to time, a bad habit bursts into flame. Most bad habits are, by definition, world views and behaviors that don’t necessarily play well. But, for the most part, they stay at a level low enough to be ignored. Chewing on fingernails, for example. Interrupting is another one. Some of these bad habits arise from social agreements about the worth of people that just aren’t fair – that erase dignity. And… Read More
“The first step is faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” Martin Luther King, Jr “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.” Barack Obama Sasha Obama hugged her dad after he took the Presidential Oath of Office yesterday. “Good job, Dad,” she said. “I did it,” her father responded. Then today, President Obama stood before… Read More
There are a lot of things that could be said about right now, today, December 31, 2012. For starters, we in the Northern Hemisphere are in the darkest time of year. In Portland, Oregon the days are short, and most often gray and wet. Nonetheless, we, like all of us, are in a great series of collectively signified moments that invite suspension of despair and the joyful tending of possibility. On December… Read More
Today. Right now. Palestinian people and all people in and around the area of Israel known as Gaza — the Syrian people, Afghan people and people in too many other places on the planet to list here are in immediate danger. Some are dying. People = children, youth, and adults including mothers, fathers, grandparents, great grandparents. These people have pets, they live in places where other animals live, they drink water and… Read More
Today is Veteran’s Day. I know that among the reasons I am here typing these words onto this screen with lunch cooking on the stove is the presence and courage of the men and women who over time have been warriors in this country and on this planet. I’m not a big fan of armed conflict — not a big fan of war — and still I know that for the largest… Read More
The podcast series continues – in fact, the entire world continues – even here in the days just preceding and just following the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. This past Friday, Alex Ward, the producer of the podcast series, uploaded Chapter 3 – Voices from the Southwest. The radio recounting of my miles on the post-inauguration highways of early 2009 continues. The most important feature of these podcasts for me is the chance… Read More
Last night there were fireworks in the rain for the last game of the season for the Portland Timbers — our professional soccer team. The season ended with a tie between the Timbers and the San Jose Earthquakes. I wasn’t at the game. And, true confession, I didn’t know about it. But the sound was enormous for 20 minutes or more. My imagination ran the gammut, but I remembered my friend Dia… Read More
Another post so soon??? YES! Here’s an antidote to all the contention and polemic flying around the airwaves and unfortunately, too easily eddying in our own ruminations. We still have over a week before the election. During that time it’s only vastly possible that the theater of opposition will amp up. The essential subtext of all the contention is that we the people not only should but do dislike, disrespect and fear… Read More
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