'…a major destabilizing influence'
It’s hard to know what to think about the student protests in Hong Kong. On the one hand they are incredibly inspiring. The courage, determination, brilliant organizing in the face of corporate blocking of the social media platforms that have been so critical early on to coordinating actions and rallying support, and the links that …
Continue reading “Student Protesters are Walking a Tightrope in Hong Kong”
It’s not your world, so stop complaining, you. Sometimes, yes, I call myself “you”. affectionately. You, Stop! (Nobody but me has the authority to stop my complaining.) Other times I refer to myself as “we”, as in, It’s not our world. . . (We’re so tired of having to explain ourselves! ) I don’t know …
When it comes to politics in Latin America, what initially seems clear is usually anything but. And when that some complicated political event happens and is reported about in the US, the last place to look for clarity is the US media, which almost universally parrots the Washington line — an imperialist one that takes …
A couple Saturdays ago I attended the monthly protest near the drone base located on what used to be the Willow Grove Naval Air Station in Horsham, PA, outside Philadelphia. The vigil has been going on monthly for a number of years, peopled by some of the most spiritual, peace-loving people I know. I’d say …
Continue reading “Drones, Guns and Abject Heroes In America”
I’m a veteran Of WW3 I’ve got the scars and the stories To prove it And I’m signing up For another tour That is to say My soul signs me up Even though I haven’t Recovered from the last I limp I have night sweats I wake up gasping for air I bought myself a …
I was explaining to my 26-year-old son recently that while I’m continuing to work as a writer, because I waited until age 70 to begin collecting my Social Security benefits, I am now collecting almost $29,000 on top of what I earn doing my freelance journalism thing. He said, matter-of-factly, “Well, I and most …
It’s been raining so hard lately The puddles have tides. The wind was booming in the trees Trying to get the house to move. I was in my car early Heading for the Hudson Valley Driving over fallen branches Until I turned onto the highway, Uncapped my thermos of coffee And settled in for the …
The impeachment theater on display today in the House, bracketed by Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s maudlin reading of Article I of the Constitution, and by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s ludicrous evocation of the Stalin purge trials to characterize the full House vote to establish impeachment rules and procedures, is increasingly looking like the first act …
Hundreds from across Pennsylvania rallied inside the Rotunda of the Capitol in Harrisburg recently to offer a solution for resolving an enormously expensive problem in state law that plagues the state’s prison system That expensive problem arises from Pennsylvania’s Life Without Parole (LWOP) sentences that keep inmates in prison until they die. Every year Pennsylvania’s …
Continue reading “Life Without Parole Sentences Rob Taxpayers & Pervert Justice”
When enough people embrace a movement, that movement can spin a life of its own — a great spirit. And out of that greatness of spirit, a culture begins to emerge which, in turn, produces work, schools, values reflected in new art-forms, dance, food, all qualities of that shared spirit. If it attains viability, in …
Continue reading “We must be more than prophets — a prose poem”