Today is the day I wear my dog tags, from U.S. Army days, 1962-63. I’m a vet, as are my two brothers, as are many relatives. My event of choice each year since 2002 has been Armistice Day of the Veterans for Peace. This mornings Minneapolis Star Tribune featured a column co-authored by two men […]
First, a fond farewell to Burt Berlowe, whose niche was as a peace writer, always a presence with the Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers (MAP) Our world is a better place because of Burt: “Dear MAP Friends, On the afternoon of Monday, October 28th, Burt Berlowe passed away. His peaceful spirit and passion live on!!! There will […]
Yesterday was election day in a few places. Where I live, we voted on only a single issue: for three local school board members. Our district has 63,565 registered voters. The highest vote among the 10 candidates was 3,415 votes: thus, the most successful candidate got the vote of about 5%, 1 of 20 or […]
Friday, November 1, 2019, is Day One after the Impeachment Inquiry Vote in the U.S. House of Representatives. I always recommend Just Above Sunset. This morning’s, “Shuffleboard in Florida“, is one I specifically recommend for weekend reading. (The ‘hook’ for me was the first four paragraphs, which aren’t directly relevant to the following – […]
It’s been an intellectually stimulating seven days, and on the other side, I have more hope for the future than before. “Tipping Points”? See the end of this post. Among the events: recognizing the beginning of the 75th year of the United Nations; the Centennial celebration of the League of Women Voters of Minnesota, and […]
I learned of the death of Baghdadi late this morning. I’ve included the wiki article about him under his name. The Wiki entry acknowledges at the very beginning that this article will be edited as more facts become known. (Over the years, I’ve come to trust more and more wikipedia’s attention to accuracy […]
For the last several weeks, we’d wonder, would we see Clarence at 9:30 Mass for his usual duty as usher. He died Oct. 14. Monday, several hundred of us bade farewell to our friend at Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis. Two or three months ago, some time after Clarence had told a number of us […]
This post is really about Ukraine, and Kurdistan (not a country)…. First, here is the geographical environment (pdf is a map of the larger region surrounding Ukraine): Ukraine area. Ukraine is slightly smaller than Texas, and 47th largest country in the world. The map is the National Geographic Atlas of the World, 7th Edition, 1999, […]
NOTE: After the Wednesday debates, Don Singley sent a personal commentary which he headed “Kudos”. I asked permission to share it as a blog post, which he granted, and I published under “Don Singley: Kudos” on October 16. All was well, except the copy would not double space, as on the original. So, the original […]
PRE-NOTE: An outstanding film we saw yesterday: Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice * My friend, Emmett, sent a note overnight: “Hope your heart appointment went well. Please let me know what the results were.” The note jogs this post, which I was going to do anyway. People I know, all know I had […]