The World, The News & My Opinions On Stuff (for what it’s worth)
Chief Theresa Spence — A Moral Hero
I have been wondering, over the past days, how to tackle the subject of Chief Theresa Spence’s hunger strike, the “Idle No More” movement, and the treatment of First Nations people by the Canadian government. My disappointment in Prime Minister Harper and his government grows with every hour. I am a Canadian with English, Irish…
Read MoreReturn of the Light
Winter Solstice. The longest night. The darkest time. After the sorrow of this particular month, with the senseless slaughter of innocents a week ago today, and the mass insanity of doomsday cults, perhaps we may be forgiven for not quite believing the light will ever return. The darkness seems so impenetrable, so impossible to shift.…
Read MorePost Sandy update
Thanks to everyone for their kind wishes and support during this terrible storm. The Best Beloved, the Resucepoo and I are all fine. The power came back on Thursday, and internet connection and phone came back yesterday. We lost about a dozen trees and the fence was knocked down, but that’s all. It was a…
Read MoreA Form of Political Protest
We wake up this morning to more dreadful news. Riots and attacks in Libya, Yeman, Egypt. Good people dead. Intolerance and ignorance exploding everywhere. I am prone, as I have said before, to the droops. The world gets me down. Some days more than others, and these days cruelty, selfishness, intolerance, ignorance and self-righteousness abound. …
Read More"I Would Rather Be With You Today. . . "
I’ve been meaning to write a blog for a few days now, but I keep starting and then stopping. There seems so much to say, about many things: the US election, my ‘magical uterus’, hurricanes, what constitutes rape, gun ownership and now this — the mob of Israeli Jewish teenagers who beat an Arab teenager…
Read MoreWhy Penguin may be the smartest publisher around
Oh, Penguin, you’ve found my soft spot. Books, books, beautiful books, as alluring on the outside as you are on the inside. Take a gander at these beauties: Penguin has come out with special edition classics, with stunning covers created by acclaimed designer Coralie Bickford-Smith. Their web page says, “Penguin Classics presents beautiful hardcover editions…
Read MoreWhy I Am Against The Death Penalty
Unless there is a last minute reprieve, Troy Davis will be executed today in Georgia, for a crime he probably didn’t commit. You can read about his case by clicking here. Although I generally fight to be optimistic about these things, I feel little optimism today, and although I have signed petitions and made phone…
Read MoreLet THEM die (but not us)
Last night I watched a snippet of the Republican debate — that startling moment when moderator Wolf Blitzer asked candidate Ron Paul if he thought a hypothetical 30-year-old uninsured man who needed health care should be left to die, and several people in the audience called out, “Yeah!” “Let him die!” Watch it by clicking…
Read MoreWe Do What We Want, Do We?
This past week I’ve been plugged into the riots in Britain (sparked, initially, during a peaceful protest against the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan) and, since the US news outlets are woefully narcissistic, much of my information about London has come via Twitter. I had recently connected to London-based writer, Lawrence Pearce, who lives…
Read MoreJustice. And conflicted emotion.
“JUSTICE has been done.” In this way, President Obama began his speech announcing the death of Osama bin Laden. Navy Seals led a raid on a compound in a small, affluent Pakistani town and killed the “mastermind” behind Al-Queda and the unspeakable events of 9/11. The world, or at least those who aren’t bin Laden…
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