Entries by dickbernard

Utah Valley University

10:24 a.m. September 12, 2025: The news conference is over and the apparent killer is in custody.  I just read a pretty compelling commentary by Thom Hartmann about the “Both Sides” argument which has already begun to rage.  I think it is important was a primer on the issue of rhetoric.  Here is the link. […]

Deceased

Yesterday I got a note that someone I knew had died in mid-July in a neighboring state.  He was 87, and apparently had been in failing health for some years.  He was a Superintendent of Schools in large school districts in three states, including the one where I was the teacher’s union rep during the […]

The Hangman

I debated whether to title this “The Hangman” or “The Flood”.  I reference both below.  The ball is in your, and my, court.  What happens going forward in our nation is up to each of us, not some “them”.  But we have to put into action our concerns wherever we are in this huge and […]

Dayton With A French Accent

The new 473 page book, Dayton With a French Accent, is very recent, and high quality.  Disclosure, I’m one of the volunteer founders of the organization which published the book, though I had retired from active involvement before the project was envisioned and began three years ago.  I have no financial interest in the publication. […]

On Labor Day 2025

The phrase “hand me downs” comes to mind as I post this. Today is Labor Day.  My life, literally, has been Labor.  I am a child of two career public school teachers whose career began in the 1920s.  For nine years I was a public school teacher myself; then, for 27 years, I  represented public […]

Smithsonian and History

Heather Cox Richardson gives a good summary of the issue of rewriting history through control of the record.  It’s her post for August 20, here.  There is much, much more to say.  Stay tuned, if you are an occasional visitor.  I’ll likely not publicize this till Labor Day or after, and I’ll be hoping for […]

The Days Ahead

  People don’t like to hear bad news.  The phrase “See no evil; speak no evil; hear no evil,” comes to mind.  Unfortunately, bad news comes to us regardless, and it is important to pay attention.  And we have seen months and now years of evidence of dangers to our democracy.  In the end, we, […]

Forward

Our country is lurching towards the hoped for 250th anniversary of the American experiment in representative democracy. For all of these years. till now, in our own imperfect way, we’ve exercised the right of “we, the people” to select our representatives and abide by a rule of law which acknowledges and accommodates differences of opinion. […]

August 9, 2025

PRENOTE: Overnight came a post from Heather Cox Richardson that deserves your time, and is about Russia/Ukraine/U.S. You can read it here. Earlier this summer my cousin, Remi Roy, took a trip back to the home area of his German-from-Russia ancestors in the Odessa Ukraine and Romania area.  His post is here. Saturday we went […]

Germans from Russia 2

PRENOTE: Today is the 80th anniversary of the first use of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, Japan.   I wonder what centuries of war and destruction have taught humanity, if anything.   Today, and on August 9 (Nagasaki) are items directly related to the whole business of peace.  They are notes ‘off the beaten path’. […]