Sometimes seemingly dis-connected happenings converge, causing one to re-think what previously was thought to be obvious. This has happened to me in recent weeks, regarding Mother’s. “Mother”, it seems to me, is a whole lot more than solely a biological function; and it is much more than a designated day in May. It is joyful, […]
Today was Diversity Day for Bloomington MN high schools and I went out to Jefferson High School in Bloomington to staff a table for a group in which I am active called World Citizen www.peacesites.org. I had the written program for the day, but wasn’t certain when I was supposed to be there, so I […]
A reader comment follows this post. Note from the moderator: For most of us, the flu hysteria of Spring 2009 has (thankfully) been a spectator sport. Jane Stillwater, her friend, and her granddaughter happened to have the flu during the peak news time about the feared “Swine Flu pandemic”. Jane writes from Berkeley CA. For […]
A reader comment follows this post. Today is my 69th birthday. I share the birthday with grandson Parker, 7, and a great number of others. Parker and I shared birthday cake yesterday. To a great number of people in my assorted constellations my age means I’m “just a kid”; to many others, including Parker, I […]
Note: Here’s another chapter on Sugaring near Deer River MN. Anne previously wrote on this topic at #6, published April 12, 2009, under the category, Quietings. I’d been charged with watching the maple syrup cooker so it wouldn’t boil over. There were also three barrels of sap bubbling the steam away. Annie and Laura had […]
It has been said that Democrats pander to the whimsies, fancies, and naiveté of the people. They tend to call it ‘social justice’ or some such trendy label. It can be Pollyannaish, idealistic, and impractical. On the other hand, it has been said that Republicans pander to the greed, avarice, and self-centeredness of people. They […]
A very conservative acquaintance once asserted to me that the primary purpose of a national government is to establish security. Our global governance system (UN, WTO, IMF…) is failing by this primal measure to guard against potential global conflicts that could be precipitated by the ever-increasing water/food/energy insecurity. There is an inherent loophole built into […]
During 1918, my mother almost died in the WW I flu epidemic. I know because she wrote about it in her memories, thusly: “I think one of the most traumatic experiences I had happened when I was about nine years old and got the World War I flu. Many people were very sick and some […]
Note from Moderator: I’ve known Marion Brady since the mid-1990s when I joined a national Quality Education listserv. For many years, Marion has been a consistent and articulate spokesperson for substantive change in how young people are educated. He was a regular columnist for a major newspaper in his home state of Florida. Recently he […]
Note from Dick Bernard: On April 20, 1999 – it was a Tuesday – I was at a meeting in suburban Minneapolis. Driving back to my office after the meeting, on the car radio, I heard about some shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton CO. I didn’t know anything about Columbine, but I knew […]