This evening I attended a talk by Adama Dieng, UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. As the speaker biography describes him, Mr. Dieng “is an internationally renowned human rights lawyer and expert who has spent his career working to establish and defend the rule of law.” A native of Senegal, “in 2012 he […]
Sometimes seemingly unrelated events just fit together, like random pieces of a puzzle that together make a confusing mess make sense. For me, such a convergence happened on Friday in three bits; preceded by two larger and more publicized national events. I just happened to be at an intersection where they came together, connected, at […]
Ed. note: Anne’s always meaningful thoughts arrived at my in-box a couple of weeks ago. They are in synch with some other events upcoming in the near future: Shadow War information is here. Forty Years After Vietnam series begins April 10, details here. Also, just a couple of days ago, I learned of a book […]
Today, I happened across a Robin, busily scouting out a lawn along my walking route. Doubtless there have been other Robins around, though not many. A robin, though, is a sure sign of spring for me. And this was the first one of 2014. For some reason, this Robin brought to mind the first Robin […]
It was a nice day on Saturday, and I had gone to downtown Minneapolis at the invitation of my friend, Lynn Elling, who gave a brief talk to Business students at St. Thomas University’s downtown campus. (click to enlarge all photos) His is a near life-long passion for peace, for survival of the human family. […]
A relevant and current addendum to this post is the 2014 Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change accessible here. Last Sunday after church I stopped by a table staffed by two members of the environmental organization MN350. This day they were encouraging action against a proposed expansion of the Alberta Clipper Pipeline of […]
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court gave even more political power to Big Wealth. My in-box was full of talk about what this means for the country. Since I’d be described, correctly, as “leaning Left”, you can guess where my chatter comes from. I often rely on Alan at Just Above Sunset to summarize what […]
A week ago, out at LaMoure ND, I asked Uncle Vince if he’d like to go for a ride. I knew what his answer would be: “yes”. As long as I’ve known him, a ride in the country is like ice cream to a kid. Farmers like to take a gander at the countryside, regardless […]
Saturday was a day for Politics in my community in Minnesota. Four hours at midday was spent at the local Senate District Convention (DFL – Democratic Farmer Labor party), at which we listened to and endorsed candidates for state representatives; where we approved the resolutions to be passed on to the next level; and where […]
POSTNOTE: The “work in progress” referred to below is complete as of April 13, 2014. During the past few days I have been involved in a “headache” assignment, self-imposed, but still a headache. For years I’ve had a very large notebook including 145 newsletters from a small, very low budget, but vibrant organization I was […]