“Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can also make you commit atrocities.” Voltaire Several times I have seen the above teaser for an upcoming special about Maryland Representative Jamie Raskin, in which he quotes Voltaire. These days, when truth and fiction intentionally are blended into whole cloth, skepticism is warranted. So, while I have […]
Yesterday a far right militia group, several members of the Oath Keepers, were formally charged with seditious actions related to Jan.6, 2021. I expect this is just the beginning of the serious indictments, which will come over coming months. At the same time is the crucial political decision making about voting rights for all of […]
Personal opinion, hopefully leading to your own individual thinking about our future as a nation. The purpose of this is to encourage conversation wherever you are. Related, Jan. 6. Two articles, one in the New York Times on Sep 8, 2021, the the other in The Washington Post on Jan. 9, deserve reading, though both […]
Additional references at end of this post. A year ago today, January 6, 2021, was the Pearl Harbor warning for the future of our democracy and our republic. Pearl Harbor was far more than just a single day in December, 1941. There was history preceding it, which few bother to learn; and WWII after…. I […]
In a few hours a new year begins. I’d like to suggest looking ahead; maybe looking back as a prompt. For the last 21 years, my “office hours” most days have been for about two hours in early morning at Caribou Coffee (City Centre) in Woodbury MN. I offer two end of year photos from […]
Earlier this afternoon I stopped at an area supermarket to pick up an essential food in my daily menu: bananas. This gave me an excuse for coffee, and to pick up one other needed item. Just an ordinary day, Dec. 28, 2021. A gentle snow had begun while I was in the store – the […]
Related here and here. Today is Christmas Eve. “May your days be merry and bright….” I choose, this year, to look back, as viewed by others from their own perspective. I actually have a long list; I choose to comment, briefly, on three. The photos which begin and end this post come from a marvelous […]
Rev. Lowell Erdahl died Dec. 14 at age 90. He was very well known in Minnesota. Details were in the Dec. 19 Minneapolis Star Tribune, which can be read here: Lowell Erdahl obituary Dec 19 2021. My particular connection to Rev. Erdahl was in the area of peace and justice. As his obituary states, “throughout […]
This morning the Friday morning regulars at the next table had completed their Bible study and were visiting. One lamented that the news was all “politics”. That’s true, of course. We – every one of us – is “politics”. And we can’t, and we mustn’t, avoid it. But it is Christmas time…. * Three […]
Today, hats off to Uncle Frank Bernard, who, at age 26, was beginning his 7th year as a sailor on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941. And to his shipmates as well who also went down with the ship. (I had the privilege to meet Frank in person, just five months […]